Soul Breakers
by Psychoblue
Summary: With a new threat looming on the horizon, Jun and Lee find themselves caught up in a dastardly plot for armageddon. Concluding my Tekken trilogy, obviously AU at this point.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** Hey, I'm back on and ready to write another Tekken story. At this point, everything here is obviously AU, what with the real Tekken universe being full of dictator Jins, false messiah Kazuyas, and agile fat men. It's been a while since I've touched my Tekken universe, so I'm just going to hope and pray that this fic does NOT suck. Everyone, enjoy the conclusion of my Tekken trilogy!

_--_

_My name is Jun Kazama: I used to be nicknamed "the Pretty Flower," but more recent developments have earned me the alias of "the Living Dead Girl." My body has been ravaged, my heart has been broken, and my mind has been shattered; and yet, I continue to walk to earth as if nothing has happened. During the course of my lifetime, I have danced with devils, clashed with monsters, and matched wits with madmen: this is a task that was bestowed upon me as the true successor of the Kazama-ryu Aiki-jujitsu style, and as the most-trusted companion of the same Devil that I sought, and continue to seek, to cleanse._

_Despite our complex and confusing history, the Devil called Kazuya Mishima willfully sacrificed a fraction of his vaunted Devil Gene so that I could continue living and even ignored his powerful lust for revenge against his father in order to protect me from those that would do me harm. In return, I have aided him in his quest to bring down the treacherous G-Corporation while at the same time helping him reconcile with both his father Heihachi and our son Jin._

_Two months ago, Kazuya's plot to take over the city and bring an end to G-Corporation using the power he would gain from such a prize was foiled when he revived my own father, Ryoku, and found himself betrayed by him. This forced Kazuya to side with Jin and his own allies that had been fighting with him for a nearly a full month and make peace with him in order to defeat Ryoku. However, my father's betrayal was preceded by a heated fistfight between Kazuya and Jin: if not for Jin's friends coming to his rescue, they might have killed each other._

_Since then, my time have been spent in preparation for the next King of Iron Fist Tournament: a martial arts competition that has been a crucial part of my existence since I first heard my father's whispers inside my head, back during the second tournament where my naiveté was matched only by my arrogance in thinking that my quest to save Kazuya's soul would only take a single defeat. Heihachi continues to share the Zaibatsu with Jin, while Kazuya works to strengthen his mind and body in preparation for his next confrontation with his enemies. As for myself, I can only watch as the Mishima clan that I swore I would unify maintains their uneasy alliance._

_Despite this time of peace, I cannot help but feel that the worst enemy is yet to come. Since my return to civilization during the previous tournament, I have witnessed the emergence of several new evils: the tortured vice president of G-Corporation Jean Sorel and my resurrected father only two of them. However, the nightmares I have been having in recent days, combined with the definite change in the winds, lead me to believe that a new threat is looming on the horizon that will surely make all the threats before it seem insignificant._

_Until I can verify that these nightmares are of any importance, however, I will keep my fears to myself and remain vigilant of anything that should go wrong. If I am to achieve Kazuya's salvation, then I will have to learn to keep my own demons in check lest my soul be lost forever…_

--

After closing her laptop computer and putting it in a black bag that was sitting next to her, Jun let out a deep sigh and stared into the evening sky. Though it seemed like a long time ago, only three months had passed since the previous King of Iron Fist Tournament where she returned to the fighting scene as the mysterious "Unknown" while trying to recover her memories that had been taken from her by G-Corporation's experiments. She was now at a point where she now remembered everything that there was to remember: her childhood, time with the WWWC, and raising her son alone.

_When I first realized that all of my memories had returned, I thought that I would be happy,_ the woman thought as she reached for her purse on the table and pulled out her wallet. _However, I only felt a sense of contentment, rather than extreme happiness: it's probably because I also remembered the hard times as well as the good._

The street café that Jun was sitting at was one of her favorite places to go growing up in Tokyo: it was in one of the quieter parts of the city and the atmosphere was peaceful and serene as opposed to the normal hectic pace that Tokyo usually operated by. However, when she raised Jin in Yakushima, she left behind both the café and city in exchange for a much quieter life as a single parent. Now that she was back in Tokyo, she had made it a point to visit the old café once a week.

"It's almost 8 PM, Ms. Kazama," a young male waiter approached Jun and informed her of the time. "We're going to be closing soon: is there anything else you would like for me to get you before we shut down?"

Jun smiled and slid an assortment of bills and coins in the waiter's direction. "I think that I am done for now: I look forward to seeing you next week." Picking up her computer bag and her purse, Jun stood up and bowed her head slightly before walking way from the café and towards the nearest transit station…until she suddenly stopped and looked around once again.

_Someone is watching me_, Jun thought as she gently put her things down and scanned her surroundings. _I can feel their ki: the person is definitely a martial artist of some kind. Where could he or she be? _Closing her eyes, Jun focused her attention on discovering the interloper. As a person gifted with psychic abilities, something as trivial as feeling out a person's aura would normally be no problem, but Jun was having a bit of trouble pinpointing the source of the aura.

"Don't bother searching for me, inspector," a deep male voice called out to Jun, forcing her to open her eyes. "I am masking my aura so that I can approach you on my own terms." Turning around to face the owner of the deep face, Jun observed the man's features: he was a medium-built man of a considerably darker complexion than her own, wearing a white business suit and a dark green tie. What Jun found most fascinating about the man's appearance was that one of his eyes was missing: in its place was a golden orb that shone with the setting sun.

"I have not used that title in a very long time," Jun stated as the man walked closer to her, referring to how the stranger called her by her former title when she was with the WWWC. She wasn't sure if the man was a threat or not, but his masking of his aura meant that he was not an ordinary person. "Who are you?"

"You do not remember me?" the man raised an eyebrow before lowering it and allowing himself a soft chuckle. "No, I supposed you wouldn't: the last time I saw you, you were inside of a statis chamber waiting to be awakened." Outstretching his hand, the man introduced himself. "I am the President of G-Corporation, Ms. Kazama."

_This man…is the leader of G-Corporation!?_

Jun quickly backed away and entered her fighting stance. _It's finally happened: they've come to take me away again. There's no time to call for help, so I'll have to end this quickly!_ Instead of attacking, however, Jun regained control of herself when she realized that the man was not making any moves aside from leaving his hand outstretched for her to shake. Why is he not attacking?

"Do not concern yourself, inspector: I have no intention of harming you, and I can assure you that I left Sorel, Fury, and their Jack toys at home," the man allowed himself a smirk as he watched Jun lower his fighting stance and straighten her sunglasses while she regained her composure. "I came here to ask you a question: have you been having nightmares recently?"

"…how would you know about my nightmares?" Jun asked with a raised voice: the man clearly knew something about her torment, and his knowledge bothered her a great deal. "Are you responsible for them!?"

"Of course not, but the nightmares of a Kazama are something to be taken into great consideration…and it confirms my own fears, as well." The man claiming to be Jun's greatest enemy reached into his jacket to pull something out. After a second of fumbling around in his pocket, he pulled out his closed fist and held it in front of Jun. Opening his fist, the man revealed a pair of shimmering light blue crystal shards "These are for you, Ms. Kazama."

"They're beautiful," Jun whispered softly as she reached out to obtain the sparkling shards. Just before she touched them, however, she backed away. "Why are you giving this to me? We are enemies, and the last time we associated with each other was when I was a guinea pig to your experiments. There is no reason for you to shower me with gifts unless you were up to something."

"Heed my words, inspector," the man's eyes narrowed, and his golden eye seemed to shine brighter as a result. "There is a great evil that is about to awaken and engulf this world into eternal darkness. I am giving this to you not because you are a friend, or even an ally: I am giving this to you because you are a Kazama. It is your duty to set things right in this world, and these shards will greatly aid you on your quest to do so."

"What great evil are you talking about? The only evil that I am aware of is the one that you and your vice president created," Jun's voice became uncharacteristic harsh as she pointed out the man's sins. "My son told me about your plans to resurrect Toshin: if you were the saint you claimed to be, you would not have-"

"I am not claiming to be a saint, inspector," the man interrupted with equal harshness. "Besides, what about Kazuya's activities a couple of months ago? He was tampering with the darkest sorcery that had no place on this mortal plane. Do not think that am I diabolical enough to jeopardize the well-being of this planet, inspector: there is no profit to be made in total annihilation."

After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Jun took the two shards from the man's hand. As she did so, she was temporarily overwhelmed by a tantalizing sensation. _What is this? It's like a warm light is softly purifying my body_. Instinctively letting out a quiet moan of ecstasy, Jun tried to regain her focus. _Is this a sensation caused by these shards?_

"Take good care of those shards: they will be your only weapon against the evil that is about to make its mark upon this land," the man broke Jun out of her trance with those words before issuing a warning. "Also note that if you try to do this alone, you will most certainly perish. Share the second shard with someone you can trust…someone who is not saturated with the Devil Gene."

"So that means I cannot rely on Kazuya or my son," Jun said out loud as the man started to turn around and walk away. "Why can I not ask them for help?"

"Devils fighting devils only leads to chaos: of this, I am certain," the man spoke in a foreboding tone, as if the example he just mentioned had happened in the past. "I wish you luck, inspector: will be needing it, and all of your vaunted skill within the coming days."

At first, Jun considered going after the man, but she decided against it. Due to the man masking his aura, she had little idea just how powerful he was, but with a skill like that he would certainly not be a lightweight. Besides, Jun was more concerned about how an enemy of the Zaibatsu and her son would suddenly become so charitable to her and entrust her with a task to save the world from an unknown enemy.

_I have every reason not to trust him_, Jun thought as she picked up her bags once again and resumed her trip to the nearby transit station once she put the shards in her purse. _However, there was sincerity in his words: something is about to happen, and I have a duty to make sure that whatever destruction that comes along with that 'something' is contained._

As she walked down the stairway in the street that would lead her to the underground transit station, Jun pondered the man's words about not letting devils fight devils. _I wonder…perhaps this has something to do with Kazuya and Jin's battle two months ago?_

Ignoring her fears for the time being, Jun headed over to the set of screens near the ticket booth and searched for the time that her train would come: she would have plenty of time to think about shards, great evils, and devils on her way back home…

--

"Dammit," a female voice hissed as its owner watched Jun Kazama leave her eyesight. "I was too late: the shards have already fallen into someone else's hands." The owner of the voice was completely hidden in a trenchcoat and hat to the point where it was impossible to distinguish whether the person was man or woman save for her voice. The individual had been spying on Jun from afar and watched her take the crystal shards she had been searching for.

_This means that the only thing that can stop my companions and me is now in the hands of someone who can actually use them to their full potential,_ the woman thought as she went back up the stairs to the main streets and looked into the newly-born night sky. _Well, I probably should have expected this: big plans like these are never easy._

As she counseled herself, a small blue flame suddenly erupted next to her, lighting up her hidden face to reveal hints of a lady. "Hush, my dear," the woman whispered as she batted away the flame like she would a fly. "Soon, you will have your chance to strike. For now…we hunt."

With that reassurance, the flame shrunk down until it was no longer lighting the woman's face, and it followed her like a fly hovering around a piece of rotting meat. _Jun Kazama, your name itself means purity_, the woman smiled beneath the shadowy cloak of her coat, and then licked her lush lips in anticipation. _However, I can smell the sin that reeks from deep within your soul: I cannot wait to lick that sin off of you!_


	2. Brute

"Bored, bored, bored, bored," Lee mumbled as he aimed his dart at the target board a few feet away. Once he had believed that he had aimed enough, Lee let the dart fly through the air right into the nose of a picture of his adopted brother Kazuya. "So BORED!"

With his light blue button-up shirt adorned with dark purple pinstripes covering his toned chest and his dress pants of the same color as the pinstripes covered his deceptively lethal legs, the 49-year-old martial artist brushed back his silver hair and turned away from the dartboard and pivoted his chair so that it was facing the laptop at his desk. Since the conclusion of the last King of Iron Fist Tournament, Lee was working closely with the Mishima Zaibatsu so that his floundering robotics company could stay alive using the Zaibatsu's funds as its backing. At first, Lee hated the idea of having his two most hated enemies in his midst (Kazuya and his adopted father Heihachi), but one person made it all bearable.

_Jun Kazama: back from the dead and looking better than ever, _Lee allowed himself a smile as he leaned closer to his laptop and typed in a plethora of numbers and figures in his spreadsheet. _She's always had eyes for Kazuya, but that doesn't mean I can't lust over her every now and then._

A little over two months ago, he and Jun were paired together on a business trip in the United States: even though Lee had practically an entire harem of women devoted to him back at his mansion in the Bahamas, there was something about Jun that always left him breathless: it could have been her impressive and athletic figure, but it could have just as easily been her collected demeanor that seemed as infectious as it was mystifying. Lee didn't really care either way: the three weeks they spent together, however fruitless they may have been in terms of forming an intimate relationship, were well worth the abstinence that Lee had always disregarded in the past.

_The bigger the mountain, the bigger the accomplishment when you climb it, _Lee thought happily as he finished reminiscing about their time in America, simultaneously finishing his work for the day. _Until I reach the summit, though, I'll just have to make sure that I don't fall of a ledge!_ Reaching for a bell near the edge of his desk, Lee picked it up and gave it a shake. The bell elicited a ringing sound, and the sound of clombering footsteps soon followed it.

A few seconds later, Lee's beloved Combot unit came into the room with a silver dish holding a pot of tea and a few porcelain cups. The Combot unit was the main reason Lee decided to join Kazuya's offer to join the new united Mishima Zaibatsu at the conclusion of the last tournament: it was a self-operating robot that could do anything from daily chores to martial arts combat. The first prototype was destroyed in the fourth tournament, and the second prototype dismantled in the sixth: this version of Combot, Lee had hoped, would bring an end to the losing streak once the next tournament would commence.

"You rang, father?" Combot said in an emotionless, robotic voice. With a smile, Lee lifted his index and middle fingers. Acknowleding the non-verbal command, Combot lowered the silver dish on a coffee table near Lee's desk and poured two cups of tea for his master.

Getting out of his seat and away from his desk, Lee picked up one of the cups and gently sipped its contents as he looked out the window of the house he was currently occupying. When Kazuya chose to live outside of the Mishima Mansion where Jin and Heihachi took residence, he asked both Jun and Lee to live with him so that "he would be able to collaborate with his most trusted allies at all times." Lee balked at the idea of living under the same roof as Kazuya once again, but the house located in the suburbs of Tokyo was large, roomy, and had a great view of the city. Furthermore, it was located in an area that didn't have too much activity: it was the perfect place to get away from it all, much like the café that Jun enjoyed visiting every week.

_It's not the mansion back home, but at least I can stay here to make sure Kazuya doesn't give me the bad end of the stick that acts as our agreement, _Lee thought with a smile as he remembered his Bahamas mansion ripe with nubile young women. _Speaking of nubile women, Jun should be back soon: make I can convince her to let me give her one of my patented back massages. _Going away from the window to lie down on a nearby couch, Lee picked up a magazine sitting on the floor and opened it. _Oh well: for now I can occupy myself with this fine piece of literature._

The "fine piece of literature" in question happened to be a gravure magazine featuring one of Lee's oldest friends and lovers, Anna Williams. A formidable martial artist in her own right, Anna had known Lee since the days of the first King of Iron Fist tournament when she was but a bodyguard for hire and Lee was the second-in-command of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Anna's cryo-sleep put a damper of either of their hopes of taking their sensual relationship to the next level, but they always kept in touch after she was revived prior to the third tournament. With not much to do until the next tournament, Anna was making ends meet as a model, and Lee had to admit she did a grand job of showing her curves.

Approaching a centerfold, Lee slowly opened the bottom page in anticipation: it wasn't enough to simply see a beautiful woman nude. As a well-known playboy, Lee made it a point to savor the moments prior to the disrobing to make it all the more enjoyable. _Just a bit more, _he thought, as his hand became ever so clover to opening the centerfold to reveal Anna in all of her splendor, _almost there…_

"Father," Combot suddenly blurted out, causing Lee to drop the magazine in surprise and become alert of his surroundings. "There is someone at the door: should I answer it?"

"Uh, yeah," Lee said as he slipped his magazine under the couch and brushed his hair back to look presentable to whatever visitor might be at the door. "Let's go, Combot: maybe it's Jun…"

Getting off of the couch, Lee and Combot headed over to the front door of the house and unlocked it once they reached it. Opening the door, the two of them bore witness to a very bizarre individual: both in appearance and in stature. _W-what the hell? _Lee thought as he inspected the stranger. _What did this guy eat when he was a kid to look like this!?_

The stranger stood over seven feet tall, wearing a brown tanktop to cover his chiseled torso, and long black pants to hide his tree-like legs. However, the man's size wasn't the only thing that astonished Lee: the stranger's skin was light blue, and his long hair was dark purple. Looking down at Lee with bright yellow eyes, the stranger grunted at Lee before lowering his head and entering the house like a little boy would enter his secret hideout.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!?" Lee shouted out, masking his fear of getting stepped on by such an impressive figure with a touch of defiance. "You can't come in here without my permission: that's breaking and entering!" When Lee reached out to the giant, however, his hand went right through him as if the stranger wasn't even there at all. "What the hell is this?"

"Intruder alert," Combot said repeatedly as he attacked the giant with a forward punch, with the same result that Lee had discovered when he tried to grab the ghost-like figure. Undeterred by such a predicament, Combot tried to attack the giant with both of his clamp-like hands in a hammer motion. If the attacker was someone else, the technique would have surely sent him reeling.

_What is going on here!? Is this guy a hologram or something? _Lee mumbled as he watched in astonishment. Combot was attacking with everything that his hard drive had to offer, and yet not a single one of the attacks made contact. _If he is a hologram, at least we won't have to worry about him destroying the house. _Raising out his hand, Lee issued a simple command to his robot: "Combot, stop!"

Complying with his master's request, Combot suddenly ended his barrage and returned to a neutral position. At this point, the giant lifted his giant hand high above his head, coming dangerously close to touching the ceiling. After a few seconds of letting Lee wonder what he was doing, the giant brought his hand down in a monstrous overhead chop and cleaved Combot's head in two. The effects of such an attack include a shower of sparks, followed by a stream of gibberish from the robot's speaker system, and finally the robot collapsing onto the floor.

"C…C…COMBOT!"

Lee sputtered out his dear servant's name as the glow in its red eyes faded and it became limp on the floor. This hologram, who Lee had deduced was untouchable, had split open Combot's head like an axe cutting through a log. Apparently, the giant couldn't be touched unless he wanted to be touched. _This thing destroyed Combot…the monster!_

Letting rage get the best of him, Lee assumed his own fighting stance and shouted out a challenge to the giant as he stood over Combot's fallen body like a vulture waiting for its meal to die. "Hey, lurch! Why don't you try that on me!?" However, Lee's rage quickly turned back to fear as the giant looked Lee with its yellow eyes glowing like it was possessed. "C-come on," Lee managed to say before carefully approaching the big "man." "Let's do this!"

Complying with his host's request, the giant reached out to grab Lee's head with his gargantuan hand, but Lee sidestepped the attempted grapple and let his foot fly towards his adversary with a missile-like jump kick. The attack, which Lee had dubbed the Silver Sting upon its inception, went right through the monster and the silver-haired martial artist landed with the monster's back facing him. _Unbelievable: he can touch me, but I can't touch him! That is so unfair!_

The monster turned around with his long, muscular arm swinging wildly as he pivoted. Lee ducked under the attack easily and let out a sigh of relief. Even though the monster was brutishly powerful, he was not particularly fast which gave Lee at least some sort of advantage. _Maybe if I can force him to touch me, I'll be able to counter-attack the moment he does!_

Putting his plan into action, Lee hid his nervousness with an arrogant smirk as he lowered himself slightly at lifted his left hand, motioning the monster to come towards him. The giant grunted at the man's arrogance, and reared back his fist in preparation for a knockout blow. _Here it comes, _Lee thought as the fist came rushing towards him like a locomotive. Once Lee thought he had waited long enough, Lee spun around and let loose a backhanded uppercut the same moment the monster's fist would have collided with his face.

Unfortunately for Lee, his fist still went right through the monster. "IT'S NOT FAIR," Lee screamed as the monster lowered his arm that went right through Lee. "There's a term the people in Shinjuku would use on you, big man: BROKEN!" Lee's temper tantrum, however, was all the giant needed to wrap his hands around the playboy's neck in an attempt to strangle him. Using his monstrous strength, the giant lifted Lee off the ground so that his feet where dangling in the air. Lee choked and gagged helplessly, his feet flailing madly to get free. After a few seconds of letting him squirm, the monster slammed Lee into the hardwood floor with devastating effect, leaving a crack and shaking the house like a minor earthquake.

Lee groaned as he struggled to get back onto his feet. Sidestepping an overhead chop just in time, the martial artist rubbed where he had landed and let out another moan. _That's going to leave a mark, _Lee mumbled as he made an effort to regain his focus. When he felt something wet on his hand, though, Lee started to panic: the back of his head was bleeding. _What am I doing here!? I have to get out of here and figure out what to do!_

Before he made a mad dash to the door, though, Lee stopped dead in his tracks when he envisioned Kazuya's wrath. _If he learned that I let a muscle-bound maniac into the house, he'll have my head for sure. _Torn between the giant's rage and Kazuya's rage, Lee shifted his gaze from the giant to the door. _What am I going to do!?_

As if to answer Lee's plight, the playboy saw a pleasantly familiar figure enter the room via the front door. The figure was definitely female, wearing a strapless silver dress and a long black coat. With her short ebony hair held together with a white hairband, Lee called out the woman's name. "Jun, get out of here! This guy is serious trouble!"

Jun, who was not quite as set on retreating as Lee was, rushed towards the giant while dropping the bags she carried with her on her way to the monster. Once the restraints were on the floor, Jun jumped up into the air and launched herself towards the monster with a flying kick. To Lee's astonishment, Jun made contact with the monster's chest and sent him stumbling backwards.

"H-how did you do that!?" Lee asked frantically as Jun landed gracefully next to him. "Every attack I used didn't even touch him: how come you can hurt him but I can't?"

After a moment of silence, Jun's eyes lit up as she suddenly reached into the pocket of her coat to reveal a shimmering shard of blue metal. "So, this is the purpose of these shards," Jun mumbled quietly as the giant straightened himself and prepared to attack the woman. Taking Lee's hand and putting the shard in it, Jun issued a simple request: "Put this shard in your pocket and try attacking the monster now."

As soon as Lee put the shard in his pocket, he was overcome with a warm and pleasant sensation. _Oh man…how intoxicating, _Lee thought as the sensation caused him to smile. _I hope she has more of those: that feels almost as good as sex. _Carrying out the second part of Jun's request, Lee ran towards the monster and spun around his large fist to send it flying a few feet away with a spinning midsection kick: his trademark Pulse Blast attack.

"Hey…I did it," Lee exclaimed. "I actually made contact with the guy!"

With his confidence renewed, Lee attacked the monster with a second Pulse Blast that knocked the monster out of the front door and into the driveway of the house. "Now I don't have to worry about you destroying our home," Lee shouted to the monster, who responded with a bellowing shout. With a quick triplet of kicks, Lee taunted the monster with his catchphrase that was well known in the tournament circles. "Come on!"

Once again using his gargantuan fists, the giant threw a wild punch at Lee in an attempt to knock his head off. Lee effortlessly rolled around the arm and wound up behind the monster. Jumping up and grabbing his foe's head, Lee landed on the ground in a seated position to drive the giant's head into the rocky driveway with a textbook Bulldog throw.

"You're not so tough when you're not invulnerable, huh?" Lee taunted as he ground the heel of his shoe into the back of the giant's head while holding onto one of the monster's arm. The monster bellowed and roared as Lee continued to humiliate him before the silver-haired playboy stomped on his head and drove the giant further into the ground.

However, the giant was quick to recuperate and grabbed onto Lee's throat once again. Standing up with Lee's neck still in his grasp, the giant punched Lee in the face with devastating force and send him flying backwards like a thistle in the wind. Lee rolled with the blow and regained his footing, but he was quickly sent back to the ground with a running boot to the face.

"M-my face," Lee whispered as he rubbed the blood of his cheek. After realizing he was wounded, his whispers turned to shrieks. "MY BEAUTIFUL FACE IS RUINED!"

For as long as he could remember, Lee had always been obsessed about his physical appearance. With his very specific definition of "handsome," he had spent a good deal of money and hard work maintaining his youthful appearance despite being on the verge of fifty years of age. Anyone who would tell him that his vision was flawed would earn a swift beating, and anyone who tried to hinder him received a worse fate.

The giant would receive the latter, as Lee swore to end the behemoth's existence in a painful manner…and there was only one technique in his arsenal that would accomplish such a task.

Focusing his ki into his right hand, Lee reared back and prepared to unleash his most devastating technique while the giant clumsily clombered toward him with his arms flailing and his mouth issuing a bellowing shout. _I won't forgive you, lurch, _Lee growled as the monster made his way closer and closer to his death. _Time to say goodnight!_

Once the monster was in range, Lee unleashed his gathered energy in the form of a fingers-first thrust to the monster's solar plexus. The attack pierced the monster's skin and forced him to stop the overhead chop that would have split Lee's skull like a watermelon. An instant later, Lee's silver ki erupted onto the point of contact and a burst of energy came from the wound. The monster roared as blue steam shot out of the wound like a leaky pipe that was subject to too much pressure.

"Disappear!"

With that harsh command, the monster seemed to vanish leaving nothing but blue smoke in its wake. The giant, whatever it was, was defeated: Lee Chaolan was victorious thanks to what he called "the Death Touch."

--

"Impressive, Chaolan," Jun said as she walked over to Lee with a handkerchief in her hand. "You defeated him all by yourself."

"My poor face…my poor Combot," Lee whimpered as he took the handkerchief from Jun's hand and used it to wipe the blood of his face. Turning to Jun with a look of anger, Lee snapped at the woman. "How did you know about this guy? What have you dragged me into?"

"To be honest, I am not entirely sure myself," Jun said calmly as she pulled out the second shard from her coat pocket. "However, it is obvious that these shards are the only thing that can stand up to whatever that thing was. We will have to remain vigilant and carry these with us at all times?"

"'We'?" Lee repeated with a hint of confusion. "Why would I want to risk my life to fight these things? Look what they did to my face!" With a growl, Lee stomped back towards the house with the handkerchief pressed against his cheek. "I'm going to the basement to fix Combot: don't disturb me!"

_Poor Lee, _Jun thought as she turned away from Lee and looked down at her hand at the shard._ I wish I could counsel him, and give him the answers he needed. But I don't know a thing about these creatures. _Putting the shard back in her pocket, Jun looked into the night sky. _If only Kazuya was here right now: he is more knowledgeable about supernatural entities than I am…_

"Devils fighting devils only leads to chaos…"

Jun remembered those words and pondered them once again. _I still haven't learned what those words mean…and the creature that Lee just defeated wasn't the same thing from my nightmares. That means that a different threat is upon us. _Turning around to go back inside, Jun's mind once again wondered back to the shard in her pocket. _Whatever the case, I will have to convince Lee that he is crucial to fending off the oncoming threat now that he has become involved..._

"_I didn't think that an ordinary human would have been able to defeat the Brute Wisp."_

Jun paused at the sound of the unknown voice. Turning around and scanning her surrounding, the former WWWC detective realized that no one was there. "Where are you? Show yourself," she said in a stern voice incompatible with her normally-gentle nature.

_"I am using telepathy to speak to you: don't bother searching for me because I'm no where near you."_

_I see, _Jun thought back to the voice with her own psychic powers. _Who are you?_

"_I am the leader of the Wisps, the race of specters that your friend just took out."_

'_The Wisps,'_ Jun repeated. _What are exactly are 'the Wisps?'_

_"Wisps are the equivalent to what the Hindus and Buddists would call 'Raksasha': evil spirits that used be wicked humans in previous lives. The Brute Wisp that you just saw used to be a champion street fighter, until he was executed by his government for murdering one of his opponents in cold blood."_ The voice explained to Jun, who paid attention carefully in hopes of tracking down where the voice was coming from. _"As their leader, it is up to me to help them realize their ultimate goal: the resurrection of the one they intend to call their god."_

_And just who would that god be?_

_"That would be telling: you'll know eventually, however."_ The voice replied in a taunting fashion. _"Whatever the case, I look forward to our next encounter: be sure to bring your scrumptious friend with you when that time comes…"_

With those parting words, the voice left Jun's head and left her with even more questions. _At least now I know what my enemies are_, she reasoned as she resumed walking towards the house. _However, I can't help but wonder if Lee is the right person for this job: this would be something more suited for Heihachi or Jinrei, but getting in touch with them is going to be difficult. By the time I reach them, it might already be too late._

Letting out a sigh, Jun entered through the front door and closed it behind her: she would have plenty of time to convince Lee to help her in the morning when the both of them were fully rested with a cool head…


	3. Pierrot

"Doluw oyu iekl eta, hrfate?"

"Please don't talk, Combot: your condition is stressing me out."

Lee dismissed his hastily repaired robot and poured a cup of tea from the pot that Combot had brewed minutes before. The silver-haired playboy did not sleep the night before, working until dawn fixing his damaged Combot after it had its head split open like an orange. The culprit: a blue-skinned behemoth that could not be touched unless it wanted to be touched. If not for Jun's arrival during its attack, Lee's own survival would have been in serious jeopardy.

Turning to his female counterpart sitting on the couch across from him, Lee recited what she had told him about their experience with the giant. "So, earlier that day, you received those two crystals from none other than the President of G-Corporation who, as far as we know, wants to destroy the Mishima Zaibatsu. After taking this gift, you headed home, and then found me attacked by that freak." Lee's voice gradually became louder as his role in the story became apparent. "Then after I avenged Combot, some mystery person spoke in your head and told you that the monster was actually something called a 'Wisp.' Without trying to verify this information, you just left it at that."

"I am still investigating, Chaolan," Jun replied while keeping her own voice in check. "However, it's obvious that these 'wisps' are dangerous, and they need to be contained."

"I can't argue with that," Lee said, quieting his voice and calming down. "Even so, what do you expect me to do? I don't have psychic powers like you do: I don't sprout wings, I don't shoot lasers, and I don't have visions of the future." With a sigh, Lee made his point. "Jun, I'm just a normal human being: this hocus-pocus is out of my expertise."

"I understand your concern, Chaolan, but I still need your help. Now that we've become involved, there's no turning back."

Oblivious to Jun's quiet desperation, Lee snapped back at Jun with unnecessary aggression by slamming his cup down onto the coffee table. "Don't tell me there's no turning back," Lee shouted out, his stubbornness matched only by his fear of encountering another one of the creatures that almost killed him. Pointing to the scratch on his face, the normally cool Lee Chaolan suddenly began sounding like an immature brat. "Look what they did to my face! Do you have any idea how much time I spend in the morning making sure that I look absolutely perfect and presentable for anyone who might come across me!?"

Like the tinkling of bells, Jun quietly laughed at Lee's outrageous speech. Jun replied with a smile saying, "You are being narcissistic, Chaolan…"

"I know," Lee moaned while he plopped down on the couch face-first, exhausted from the night he had several hours before. "When you look as good as I do, it can go to your head." Turning his head to look at Jun's smile, Lee became slightly more reasonable. "Look, Jun: I know that you want me to help you, but right now I'm completely exhausted."

"I understand, Chaolan," Jun said with a sincere smile before standing up and putting her hand on Lee's back. "But please: reconsider your stance on this matter. What would Kazuya think if he heard about you having that tantrum just now? It wouldn't be very becoming of an expert businessman like yourself."

"No, I guess not," Lee muttered, taking comfort in having a lovely woman like Jun Kazama rubbing his back. "Living ghosts, holy shards, and visions of the apocalypse: it's a lot for one person to swallow at once, especially when their personal servant gets trashed because of it." After a few seconds of silence, Lee conceded and mumbled his answer to Jun's offer. "I'll think about it some more…just leave me alone to collect my thoughts, okay?"

Removing her hand from Lee's back, Jun finished her tea and walked away from the silver-haired martial artist who fell asleep soon after she left the room. _He's right about the gravity of the situation, _she thought while she walked into the kitchen, where Combot greeted her with unintelligible gibberish. _I myself am not entirely sure if I can defeat these Wisps, as I have not faced one myself yet. _

Suddenly, Jun's eyes lit up as she strengthened her resolve. _I will not burden him with such an important task if it bothers him that much. If he does not want to fight these Wisps, then he does not have to! _Leaving the kitchen and going to the front door, Jun took her purse and opened the door. _I'll find some other way to combat the Wisps. It was silly of me to think I could push this problem onto someone else._

_--_

Several hours later…

A few miles from the house that Jun, Lee, and Kazuya called home, there lay a small park where the residents of the neighborhood could bring their children and have a good time while simultaneously enjoying the botany that peppered the area. There was a large cherry blossom tree in the center of the park, with a simple playground about ten meters away in one direction and reasonably sized decorative pond about thirty meters in the other direction.

The tree in question was a spot that had become particularly likable to Jun: when she first saw the tree upon Kazuya's decision to live in that area of suburban Tokyo, she was instantly smitten by it. Like her habit of going to the café every week, she went to the park every day to think about important matters, hone her ever-changing fighting style, or simply to become lost in the storm of cherry blossoms that fell from the tree in the wake of a strong wind.

However, not all of the memories of the tree that Jun possessed were good ones: it was also the place where her father first whispered in her ear that his revival was at hand. Like any good child would, Jun followed her father's instructions word for word, eventually succeeding in ushering in his resurrection. Her father's spirit had promised her that he would make up all of the time he had lost due to his untimely death and unite their broken home.

_Instead, all he did was follow his own selfish designs and wreak havoc upon those I hold dear, _she thought bitterly as she continued her kata: an Aikido variation that was ironically taught to her by Ryoku Kazama. _My son, despite all of his friends and all of his bravery, could do little to stop his rampage: it was when I stepped in that his fate was sealed. _Concluding her kata with a vertical elbow preceded by a standing backflip, Jun let out a deep breath and sat down with her back to the tree. _Maybe the same holds true for these Wisps…_

Soon after leaving the house, Jun managed to get in contact with Heihachi Mishima, who seemed oddly numb to the shock of having one of the people in his circle involved with the President of G-Corporation. After explaining the situation to the reigning King of Iron Fists over the phone, Heihachi had this to say:

"If the situation becomes so dire that it threatens the Zaibatsu, then I will step in and interfere. Until then, you must create your own path: I have enough faith in you that you can fix whatever mess you got yourself into."

The response would have angered Jun if she were someone less forgiving, but she knew that Heihachi was simply being himself. He had worked immensely hard to unite the Mishima clan, and maintaining the balance certainly meant more to him than involving himself in the matter of the Wisps. _I am still indebted to him for helping me defeat Ryoku: I have no grudge against Heihachi regardless of his past sins._

_"Where's your friend? I thought I told you I wanted to see him…"_

The voice in her head was familiar, but this time Jun kept calm. Taking a few gulps of water from the bottle sitting next to her, Jun slowly stood up and dusted off her dress. "You have tormented Lee enough, stranger. Show yourself now, and face me." Gently patting her chest to make sure the shard hidden in her brassiere was still intact, the woman slowly stepped away from the tree and searched her surroundings.

She wouldn't have to look for long: a creaking sound caught her attention, and she darted her head to the playground. There was someone on the swing set: a figure completely covered in a long brown trenchcoat, wearing a matching fedora that draped the figure's face in shadow. After a few seconds on silence, the figure looked at Jun and waved at her.

"_I would face you, but someone else would like to have the honor of doing so,"_ the voice responded, coinciding with the figure's shaking head. Undeterred by such tomfoolery, Jun walked over to the figure that continued to swing from the set casually. When it seemed that Jun would reach her, however, the figure suddenly launched itself from the set with a big curving swing, kicking Jun squarely in the chest and knocking her away like a baseball.

The figure landed gracefully on its feet while Jun rolled onto her own clutching where she had been struck. With a callous laugh, the figure spoke verbally with a definitively female voice. "Sorry, dear, but we'll have to do this some other time: I have appointments to keep." As Jun resumed her fighting stance, the unknown female conjured up a small blue flame in her hand. Blowing it away like a flirting kiss, the small blue flame became considerably larger and then materialized into what looked to be a solid form.

The newly spawned being wore a two-colored pierrot mask spilt down the middle vertically, one half red and the other half black. Its body was clothed in a body suit that shared the same properties as the mask, except the left half of the suit was a pinkish violet, and the other half a greenish blue. The only parts of his body exposed were his hands, which were decisively light blue. Jumping up into the air and clicking the heels of his pointed yellow boots on the way down, the fire-born interloper landed gracefully and politely bowed to the bewildered Kazama.

"Pierrot Wisp, play with her as much as you want," the coat-wearing woman said with a laugh before beginning to walk off. "If you get bored, though, be sure to save something for me."

Jun attempted to go after the woman, but the Pierrot put an end to her pursuit by standing in front of her. After a couple of seconds of the two of them standing off, the Pierrot produced a pair of long knives and started twirling them around like batons. Jumping back in surprise of the sudden drawing of weapons, Jun quickly assumed her fighting stance and eyed her opponent carefully. _So my opponent is a knife fighter, _she mumbled as she prepared for the clown's oncoming assault. _I will have to be very careful._

Quick as a hiccup, the Pierrot attempted to slice Jun with a swipe of the knife its left hand. If not for Jun's even-quicker reflexes to catch the hand, the wisp might have succeeded in doing so. Holding onto the arm, Jun used her free hand to plunge a burst of purple-and-yellow ki into the Pierrot's abdomen. Continuing to push her attacking hand into the Pierrot's solar plexus, Jun pushed the clown away and forcing it onto the ground.

Flipping back onto its feet using its impressive athleticism, the Pierrot rolled towards Jun like a soccer ball that had just been kicked. Using the unusual forward momentum to its advantage, the Pierrot suddenly straightened out and scratched the lithe female across her neck before knocking Jun away with a snapping drop kick. _Thankfully it's not a deep cut, _Jun let out a sigh of relief as she inspected the wound. _Still, I was careless and it took advantage: I probably won't be allowed that mistake again._

Altering her stance to better suit her unique opponent, Jun took to the offensive and knocked the Pierrot into the air with a standing uppercut. Not giving the Wisp any respite, Jun continued the assault in mid-air using a snapping vertical kick, a quick jab, and an impaling knee before knocking her foe away with a standing roundhouse kick. The combination caused the creature to land flat on its face as it spiraled to the ground.

The Pierrot chuckled as it quickly regained its footing and straightened its mask before suddenly lunging at Jun with violent intent. Jun managed to parry the first knife that came her way, but the weapon in the Pierrot's other hand grazed her arm and elicited a brief shout of pain. With its foe stunned by the wound, the Pierrot took the opportunity to slash at her midsection. The attack failed to cut open her stomach, but it did leave a tear in Jun's dress and a thin cut along with it.

Launching the Pierrot high into the air with a standing backflip kick, Jun sent the Wisp crashing into the large tree of the park with a swiping elbow. Now that she had a couple of seconds to breathe, Jun looked at the cut on her dress, and then the wound on her arm. Thanks to the experiments that G-Corporation performed on her, the wounds were already healing quickly: at least she was granted that much relief facing an armed opponent. The Pierrot, quick to recover and even quicker to retaliate, scurried towards Jun with its knives prepared to slice. What it received for its troubles was another powerful elbow strike, and a ride across the grass.

Jun chased after her opponent as it slid across the ground, leaving a line of dirt in its wake. Once the Pierrot had stopped moving, Jun performed the Kazama-ryu patented cartwheel kick and planted her feet squarely onto the Wisp's solar plexus. Continuing her assault, the psychic warrior grabbed the clown's shoulders and lifted its body off the ground before slamming it headfirst back into the dirt. _As long as I'm on the offensive, I should be fine._

While the plan was sound in theory, its practice needed some fine-tuning: when Jun attempted for another slam, the Pierrot sprung into action and countered with a sudden thrust of its knife. The attack impaled Jun's abdomen and elicited a spray of crimson from her mouth. Standing up with one of its knives still inside Jun, the Pierrot pulled it out only to sending her reeling with a double-bladed diagonal slash.

_I…think it missed anything vital, _Jun thought as she tried her hardest to maintain her focus while struggling to get back on her feet. _However, that was way too close: I should be trying to disarm him. _With her new battle strategy, Jun resumed her fighting stance and waiting for the Pierrot to strike. When it opted for another forward thrust, Jun grabbed its wrist and twisted it as hard as she could before dragging it to the ground and striking at its head with a downward palm.

Even though twisting its wrist forced the Pierrot to drop one of its knives, it was seemingly unfazed by Jun's strike and almost immediately using its other knife to try and take a slice of her flesh. In retaliation, Jun focused her attention on the hand that carried that knife and knocked it out of its hand with a backhanded punch. With her opponent disarmed, Jun grabbed onto the Pierrot's arm and forcefully dragged it face-first into the ground. A sickening pop was heard the moment the Wisp made impact with the ground. _Yes! I've broken its arm: it shouldn't be able to fight as well like that!_

The Pierrot rolled back to its feet and looked at its right arm dangling lifelessly. With a slight chuckle, the Pierrot slowly began swinging the dangling arm back and forth. Confused by this maneuver, Jun did nothing to stop its strange habit.

It would be her mistake, as after the tenth swing the arm suddenly sprang to life and straightened out as if nothing had happened at all. _Again, I was careless; _Jun criticized her lack of action and prepared to attack again. _No mistakes this time: I finish this now. _

Before she could renew her assault however, the Pierrot stuck out its hand in front of itself and motioned for Jun to stop what she was doing. Surprised the sudden request, Jun watched as the Pierrot produced three small black balls and began juggling them. "I don't have time for these games," Jun stated as she came at the Pierrot with her fist raised. "I will end this!"

Just before her fist reached the Pierrot's face, the clown tossed all three of the balls in Jun's face, which simultaneously exploded in a shower of colorful lights. Blinded by the maneuver, the psychic warrior screamed as she took the full brunt of the blast right in the face. _More trickery, _Jun thought bitterly as she rubbed her eyes attempting to regain her sight. _What an aggravating opponent!_

With another chuckle, the Pierrot punched the vulnerable Jun in the stomach and swept her off her feet with a sweeping low kick. Jun yelled in pain as the Pierrot jumped up and down on her wounded stomach like a trampoline. After the sixth stomp, the Pierrot kicked Jun away like a soccer ball and produced more knives for it to carve her hide. _I can sense its murderous intent: he's about to do something. _Jun groggily resumed her fighting stance and prepared for the enemy's attack despite her blindness. _I have to focus, or I am dead!_

Suddenly, a piercing shout breached the sound of the Pierrot's laughter, surprising the clown enough to stop what it was doing and look around to see where the shout came from. It wouldn't have to look long, as an instant later a flying foot came crashing into its face and sent in crashing to the ground. Jun, despite her bad eyesight, knew the origin of the shout and took comfort in the knowledge.

"Sorry I'm late, Jun," Lee apologized as he put a comforting hand on Jun's shoulder. Once the lights in her head stopped flashing, Jun looked at her shoulder to see a gloved hand. Turning around and expecting to Lee's handsome face, she instead saw a silver mask that was unmistakably a Tekkenshu helmet used by the Zaibatsu's elite soldiers.

"Why are you wearing that helmet?" Jun asked, slightly amused by seeing Lee in a helmet despite the rest of his casual wear adorning his body.

"Hey, if I'm going to plunge myself into battle, I might as well minimize the risk to my face." Lee answered with a shrug as he turned to the Pierrot and assumed his fighting stance. "So, would you like me to finish this?"

"No, this is something that I have to do myself," Jun said as she pushed Lee back before resuming her own stance. "Keep a close eye on this battle, Chaolan: there may come a time where I need you again." _And the reason for that is because my mind has been elsewhere this entire battle, _Jun reasoned as she charged the Pierrot just as it was beginning to get back on its feet. _I have been doubting myself, just as Chaolan has: I must remain confident if I am to succeed!_

With her passion renewed, Jun launched the Pierrot into the air with a reverse cartwheel kick, and juggled her foe accordingly with a pair of palm strikes, a forward punch, a quick elbow and a horizontal kick to send the Wisp spiraling into the ground. Even though the Pierrot landed on its feet, Jun was quick to capitalize on her combination and locked her wrists together around the clown's waist like a human belt. After a couple of seconds of struggling, Jun fell backwards and dropped the Pierrot on its head with a monstrous German Suplex.

The effects of such a technique managed to dig a hole in the ground for the Pierrot's head to wedge itself in, and would have shattered its spine had it been a human. However, the Pierrot was something far more: it struggled to get free of its dirty prison as Jun flipped back onto her feet and dusted herself off. Once the Pierrot removed its head from the ground, six more knives materialized in its hands and it immediately flung them at Jun. Using her quick reflexes, Jun dodged each and every one of the blades and sent the Wisp flying backwards with a thrust of her palm: the Kazama-ryu technique known as the Mist Palm Thrust.

"It's time to end this," Jun said out loud as she focused her firework-like ki into her left leg. "You are a worthy opponent, Pierrot Wisp: I shall remember you for the rest of my days." Like a tornado, Jun spun towards the fallen clown with her ki sparkling like a human sparkler. The Pierrot stood back up just in time to receive a devastating Spinning Heel Drop: what the technique lacked in terms of flashy names, it more than made up for in raw power.

The sheer impact of Jun's foot colliding with the Pierrot's face shattered its face mask, revealing a void of blue smoke where the face should have been. The Pierrot cackled hysterically, panicking like a scared dog while its body burned away. After a few seconds, the cackling ceased as the Pierrot's body completely vaporized into harmless steam. The battle was over, and Jun had emerged victorious.

Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Jun lowered her fists and looked at her body. Most of the wounds that she had obtained in the fight were not serious, though the stab wound would probably require attention once she got home. Her accelerating healing factor kept the wound from bleeding excessively, but she was not invulnerable. _I will worry about it later: for now, I can take comfort in knowing that I am still alive._

Turning to Lee as he was removing his Tekkenshu helmet, Jun bowed her head in thanks. "I owe you my life, Chaolan…but how did you know where to find me?"

"I may be narcissistic, but I'm not so selfish as to ignore the plights of my friends…especially one as lovely as you," Lee said with a smirk before gracing Jun with an exaggerated bow. "I had Combot trace your ki signature once I woke up. After that, it was easy to find you and tell you what I needed to tell you."

"And just what do you need to tell me, Chaolan?" Jun asked, though she had a pretty good feeling what Lee was about to say thanks to her precognitive abilities.

Letting out a sigh while rubbing the back of his head, Lee looked to the ground and made his statement. "Jun, it's rare that I admit this to anyone, but I am immensely selfish by nature. I've always looked after myself first before others." Lifting his head slightly, Lee took a deep breath as he admitted to his faults. "I acted like a big baby earlier today, and I want to make it up to you."

"Chaolan, please," Jun said with a warm smile. "You don't owe me anything: it was my fault for imposing my problems onto you."

"That's just it, Jun: I want to help," With a wide smile, Lee clenched his fist and held it high into the air. Sticking his thumb and index finger up in his trademark pose, the silver-haired playboy made clear his resolve. "From now on, you can count on me for taking out these Wisps. Starting today, the Silver Devil is back in business!"


	4. Gridiron

Just as Jun had her habits of going to certain places every so often, Lee had his own weekly leisure schedule. Every Tuesday evening he would go to the transit station with his MP3 player in tow and go into the marketplace to shop around for items that would he deemed would be useful in the upcoming future. His most common interest in the marketplace were computer parts that Lee could install into Combot to improve its already complex structure. Once he had found a compatible part that he deemed complimentary to Combot, he would inform his secretary back at his company's headquarters located in the Bahamas and she would order more of those parts for the other prototypes there.

Once he had his fun shopping around, Lee would go to a small noodle shop that was situated close to the marketplace. While he was no stranger to expensive restaurants and fine cuisine, Lee had known the owner of the shop in that area since before the first King of Iron Fist Tournament. When Lee came back to Japan to fight in the fourth tournament, he crossed paths with the owner after one of his bouts and the two of them immediately picked up their friendship where it left off.

_Of course, he was certainly jealous of all of my success over the years, _Lee thought with a smug smile as he approached the noodle shop owned by the said acquaintance. _Obviously, he was jealous because he was proud of me! _Sitting down at one of the six seats that were placed under the small shelter, the silver-haired playboy greeted the shop owner with a smile.

However, the shop owner was in a less-than-pleasant mood. "Why do you keep coming back here, Lee?" He said with a scowl across his unshaven face which surprised his customers. "With all your money, you could be eating at the biggest and fanciest restaurants in the city. Do you come to my shop to mock me and my simple ways?"

"W-what are you talking about!?" Lee responded to the shop owner's rhetorical question with wide eyes and a look of shock. "I've known you for a very long time now and you've never accused me to belittling you! What's the deal!?"

"I've been holding it in for a long time now, but I figure I might as well say it now," the shop owner let out a sigh before looking at Lee with a look of disappointment. "It's people like you who cause my friends to go out of business and find work as dishwashers when they should be cooking with the best guys. Whenever you come into the shop, the other shop owners call me a suck-up and it looks bad on my business."

_Man, what the hell is his problem today, _Lee thought as he pondered the shop owner's words. After a few seconds of uneasy silence, the silver-haired playboy gave his rebuttal. "Geki, the reason I keep coming back here is because you are my friend and you make the best noodles in town! The finer restaurants don't put soul into their work like you do!"

A few more seconds later, the scowl faded and gradually gave way to a smirk. Pulling out a tape recorder, Geki pressed the stop button and placed it down on the table that separated him from his customers. Taking comfort in Lee's confused look, Geki explained his gripes. "That response was all I needed to prove that I'm pals with the famous Lee Chaolan. No one believed that a big shot like you would come to my humble shop every week, but now I have auditory evidence!" With a hearty laugh, Geki put the recorder away and got down to business. "Do you want to usual, buddy?"

"Uh, yeah…I think I'll stick with what I usually get." Lee made his order while still shaking off the effects of Geki's sudden change of heart. Once he had gotten over it, however, he realized that his ego had just been fed with praise and he digested it accordingly. _I suppose being in my immediate circle is a big deal, _he thought with a smile as he waited for his noodles to be served. _God, I love being me._

He quickly reminded himself, however, that being Lee Chaolan had its setbacks. Only a day before, Lee had taken Jun's offer to help her stop the march of the supernatural specters known only as "the Wisps." Normally, Lee's first and only response to such a task would have been running from it. He fighting spirit may had been rekindled at the start of the fourth tournament, but putting himself into unnecessary danger was never high on his list of things to do.

_Now that I've officially put myself in their way, I'm sure I'll run into another one of those blue freaks soon: maybe even tonight. _Lee shuddered at the thought of his face getting scratched again at the hands of angry spirit. If anyone was going to be touching his face, it would be a beautiful woman that he had successfully wooed into bed. Gently poking at the fading scar on his cheek, Lee allowed himself a smile. _I suppose it does make me seem a little more battle-hardened: some ladies go for that._

After a couple of minutes of trying to find the bright side to his decision to fight the Wisps, Lee heard Geki's voice call out to him. "Hey, hotshot: here's are your udon noodles." Nodding his head in thanks, the fighter nicknamed the Silver Devil reached for the soy sauce and prepared to bring it to him. Before he could do so, however, another hand wrapped around the bottle and prevented Lee from obtaining it. "Sorry, pal, but I'm still using it," a husky voice stated. "You can have fill after I'm done with it."

"Hey, don't be a prick about it," Lee said, removing his hand from the soy sauce and turning to face the source of the voice. "Just be sure to give it back to me when…you're…Paul!"

The source of the voice was none other than Paul Phoenix, long-time King of Iron Fist tournament veteran and one of the strongest fighters on the planet. A middle-aged American with tall blonde hair that stuck up like a brush and a hoarse beard of the same color, Paul had his trademark red dougi on with dark purple combat gloves covering his hands and wooden sandals protecting his feet. Realizing whom he had just spoken to so selfishly, Paul smacked his forehead and apologized. "Hey, it's you! I didn't expect to see you in a place like this!"

Sliding the soy sauce across the table, Paul picked up his plate of noodles and bottle of sake to sit in the seat next to Lee Chaolan. During Lee's teenage years, Heihachi sent him to America to better train him to become the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu in case the true son Kazuya was unable to live up to the lofty expectations set before him. While in the United States continuing his business education and handling the Zaibatsu's branch there, he met two fellow martial artists that were around his age. Their names: Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law.

The three of them became quick friends and even better sparring partners, with Lee incorporating several of their fighting techniques into his own repertoire to create a fighting style that was decisively different from the Mishima-ryu that Heihachi had originally taught him. However, when it came time for the first King of Iron Fist Tournament to start, Lee no longer saw Paul and Marshall as friends but as rivals. This drove a wedge between them and every time Lee spoke to either of them became more business-like and less casual.

_The tournament hasn't been announced yet, though, _Lee reminded himself as he took the soy sauce from Paul's hand and spilled a few drops of its contents onto his noodles. _I guess I can associate myself with this rough fellow for the time being. _A few seconds after slurping his noodles down, Lee put down his bowl for a moment and made conversation with the hot-blooded fighter. "It's been a while, Paul: what have you been up to?"

"Training, of course," Paul said with a smile as he pointed a brown duffle bag next to his seat. "Even since I lost to Kazuya at the last tournament, I've been traveling the world pitting myself against the meanest and toughest SOBs that I can find." Slurping down some of his own noodles, the American continued. "I asked Marshall if he wanted to come, but he said that he would rather stay home and earn some extra cash."

"Fortunately I don't have to worry about that," Lee bragged before pointing at a large, shiny black suitcase next to his own seat. "That suitcase alone should tell you how well off I am. I'm the owner of a major robotics company, and a huge mansion in the Bahamas: money is never a problem for Lee Chaolan."

"Yeah, well it's always a problem for me," Paul took a few more noodles from his plate and put them into his mouth. With his mouth not entirely empty, the hot-blooded fighter continued. "Still, denying yourself luxuries is also part of training. In fact, the organized street fights I find myself in are usually enough to get me by on the stuff I need…like these noodles!"

"Not everyone can be a vagabond like you, Paul," Lee stated before calling over the shop owner and ordering some ice water. "However, that doesn't mean been slacking off: I've also been on a bit of a training trip myself."

"Oh, really?" Paul asked with a raised eyebrow, his interest piqued. "What have you been doing with all your babes and all your cash?"

Suddenly remembering how much Jun emphasized on involving as few people as possible in the matter of the Wisps, Lee quieted his stream of information with a simpler reply. "If I told you, then I would lose the advantage I'll be having in the next tournament!" With that reply, Lee hid his secret further away with a haughty laugh before taking several big gulps from his cup of ice water.

"…Hey, I almost forgot about something," Paul snapped his fingers and reached into his pocket, causing Lee to shift his gaze downwards as he continued to drink from his cup. Upon seeing what Paul pulled from his pocket, Lee almost choked on his own ice water: it was the same kind blue shard that Jun had given him two days before on the evening of the first Wisp attack. "I was told to give this to you."

"Where did you get this?" Lee exclaimed as he picked up the shard and inspected it, causing the other customers to turn their heads in curiosity. "And who told you to give this to me?"

"I found it three days ago, when I was in the Philippines. After I beat some tough guy in a fight, this lady gave it to me as a gift as the guy had been bothering her family." Paul answered before inching closer to Lee's face and beginning to whisper. "But the people who told me to give it to you…were aliens."

Lee blinked his eyes and stared at Paul for a moment, not entirely sure what he had just heard from what he believed to be a mentally sound person was correct. "Aliens?" Lee repeated.

"Just yesterday when I arrived in Tokyo, the voice of one of the aliens spoke to me in my head," Paul said with a completely straight face. "It said, 'Paul Phoenix, hot-blooded fighter of the west, bring the shard to the man known as Lee Chaolan. The fate of your world depends on it.'"

_He got the shard three days ago? Jun didn't even know about these shards until two days ago, _Lee thought while Paul continued to ramble about these extraterrestrial beings that he claimed to be acquainted with. _Maybe aliens really did make these shards! _"Paul, did the aliens tell you anything else before yesterday?"

"Nope," Paul shook his head before drinking from his own bottle filled with rice wine. "Those shards are something else, though: the moment you touch 'em, you feel like you've just come out of a hot spring." After a few seconds of hard chugging, Paul let out a sigh of contentment and looked at Lee with a slightly less sober expression. "See, I have a theory about these aliens: I think they're omnipresent beings or something like that and they've been watching over us for eons and-"

Before Paul could finish his theory, a mysterious figure covered in a brown trenchcoat and matching fedora suddenly leaned in between him and Lee. The figure whose face was covered in the shadow of its fedora turned its head to look at the silver-haired playboy and leaned in closer to him. "Hey there, Scrumptious," it whispered in his ear with an alluring female voice. "I was waiting for you to show up by herself."

With his interest piqued, Lee looked at the woman masked in shadow and made out what little he could of her with her hat shading her face. However, with a voice like that, he doubted she was anything less than drop dead gorgeous and asked three crucial questions: "What is your name, what is your phone number, and what are your three sizes?"

With a laughter that made Lee's heart soar, the figure leaned back and straightened out before tilting her head slightly. The moment she did so, the other customers aside from Paul and Lee suddenly stood up out of their seats and began to walk away. The shop owner Geki was about to shout about them not paying, but mysteriously fell silent and went back left his shop just as abruptly.

Even with all of this, however, it wasn't until the two shards in Lee's pocket started to pulsate with energy that he realized that the woman in the trenchcoat was probably the reason for their leaving. As Paul looked on in confusion, Lee stood up out of his seat and walked towards the woman. "Madam, I do not wish to pry," he said in the most gentlemanly tone he could muster. "But would you, pray tell, know anything about something called 'Wisps?'"

"As a matter of fact, good sir, I would," she responded in an equally lady-like tone before snapping her fingers and a small blue flame appeared just in front of her lips. Gently kissing her gloved head before blowing the flame away, the stranger returned to her previously seductive tone and said, "this is for you, dear: I hope you have fun."

The blue flame quickly expanded and took solid form to reveal an intimidating figure that stood at a little over two meters tall. He was wearing long body-hugging dark gray pants that emphasized the well-trained legs it covered, with white turf-treaded cleets covering his feet. The torso was adorned with a dark orange football jersey with the number "54" written in white splashed across the front and the sleeves, with massive round shoulder pads sitting on each arm like a knight's shields. With his chiseled blue arms, and his logo-less dark gray football helmet putting an equally blue face in shadow, Lee identified the linebacker-like character as a Wisp.

"Oh…my…GOD," Paul exclaimed as he sprung up out of his seat to check out the linebacker that just materialized. "It's the aliens! They've finally answered my challenge!" Charging towards the linebacker with all of the power his legs could muster, Paul let out his battle cry. "Bring it on, alien! Paul Phoenix is coming to knock you out!"

Lee put a palm to his face and shook his head as Paul went through the linebacker and crashed into another booth, destroying it like a car hitting a piece of cardboard and causing it to collapse on top of him. However, the head-on collision did remind him to reach for his suitcase and pull out the two pieces that formed his silver Tekkenshu helmet. Clipping the two halves over his head to form a whole helmet, Lee assumed his own fighting stance and prepared for battle.

"Awww, I was hoping I could stare at your face the whole time while you played with the Gridiron Wisp," the trenchcoat woman said with disappointment. "Won't you do a lady a favor?"

After a moment to think about it, Lee decided to opt against following what the woman said. "I will remove my mask, if you remove yours," he said as he politely bowed to the woman while the Gridiron Wisp slowly began walked towards his adversary. "How about after this is over, you take off your unsightly coat and hat and we'll explore each other accordingly?"

With that same mesmerizing laughter she employed earlier, the mystery woman nodded her head and watched as Lee flipped over the charging Gridiron Wisp's massive shoulders and watched as it completely decimated the small noodle stand like a rampaging rhinoceros. "Sounds like a plan, Scrumptious, so long as you don't die first!"

With that promise in mind, Lee ran after the linebacker with violent intent and tried to pounce on him with a flying cross chop. Unfortunately for Lee, the linebacker didn't even move as Lee bounced off of the Wisp's body and rolled a few feet away like a ball bouncing off of a wall. _Owww, _Lee rubbed his arms to try and ease the pain as the Gridiron Wisp turned around with his yellow eyes glowing from the shadow cast by his helmet. _He's another brick wall like the guy that trashed Combot: looks like I'll have to play it smart again._

Suddenly acceleration, the Gridiron Wisp tackled Lee with a devastating body spear and grabbed onto the silver-haired playboy's head once they hadreached the ground. Banging Lee's head against the ground repeatedly before realizing that the Tekkenshu helmet protected his head, the linebacker stood back up and kicked Lee's fallen body several feet away with a standing punt.

Rolling with the impact of the punt as he landed, Lee got back on his feet just in time to duck back down and sweep the linebacker off of his feet with a low kick just as it was going to tackle him again. The Gridiron Wisp began his fall forwards, but wound up landing on his back as Lee performed a high backflip kick just as it was about to fall on him. The Wisp landed with a thud before regaining his footing and pumping his fist in the air, apparently amused by Lee's toughness.

In an attempt to take advantage of the opportunity given by the linebacker's taunt, Lee took to the air and attempted to strike down his foe with a Silver Sting, but the Gridiron Wisp caught him in midair, lifted him high above his head, and slammed him into the ground while entering a sitting position for a Liger Bomb counterattack. This opened up another opportunity for the linebacker to punt Lee yet again and send him crashing into a bystander.

As Lee struggled to get back to his feet while telling the bystander to move back, the Gridiron Wisp ran towards the silver-haired martial artist with violent intent burning in his yellow eyes. Using his massive shoulder pads as a weapon, the linebacker launched Lee into the air using his pads as a vertical battering ram and then jumped up after him like he was catching a stray pass from a quarterback. The Wisp caught Lee in mid-air and the two of them fell back down to the ground with Lee's back banging against one of the large pads for an impressive shoulder backbreaker.

Lee fell to the ground and moaned in pain before the Gridiron Wisp stomped his spike-tipped shoe onto Lee's chest and began grinding the heel of the shoe into it. Lee screamed for a couple of seconds before his left foot shot up into the air and kicked the footballer in the buttocks, causing him to break his hold on Lee and stumbled a couple of feet away. Springing to his feet, Lee grabbed the Gridiron Wisp back the back of his neck and flipped over his head to land in a seating position with the neck still in his grasp. The Adam's Apple of the linebacker came crashing down onto Lee's shoulder, stunning him as Lee rolled away while he completed his appropriately named "Lee Stunner" maneuver.

_He's not like the lumbering giant, _Lee observed while he rubbed his back a bit while the Gridiron Wisp got back onto his feet. _The guy is also pretty athletic. Still, he has to have a weak spot. I just have to find it! _As soon as the Gridiron Wisp stood back up, Lee bombarded him with a rapid succession of sting-like kicks that rained down upon all parts of the Wisp's body. When Lee tried to send him to the ground with a high roundhouse, though, the foot only bounced off the linebacker's helmet and hurt Lee more than it hurt his opponent.

The Gridiron Wisp took advantage of Lee's mistake by ramming his protected head into Lee's and sending him sliding across the ground on his back. Lee quickly flipped back onto his feet just in time to receive another body spear that sent the two of them tumbling like lovers across the ground. By some strange twist of fate, Lee was the one on top of the linebacker when the rolling stopped, and he took advantage of the situation by dropping five punched onto the specter's throat before getting back up to avoid getting punched in the head by the prone athlete.

"No no no, you're doing it all wrong," Lee heard Paul shout out while he paid attention to the linebacker that was standing back up and dusting himself off. "Footballers wear body armor to protect themselves from the impact of landing on the ground and tackling other players. You can't just attack them anywhere you want! You have to find a hole in their armor!"

"Thanks for the tip, Paul," Lee shouted out half-heartedly as he spun around the linebacker as he attempted yet another body spear. "I'll be keeping that in mind from here on in!" _Let's see…the only place I've attacked so far that had any real effect was the throat area, _Lee reminded himself as he sent the linebacker stumbling away with a midsection Pulse Blast kick (though normally it would send him to the ground). _I guess I'll focus my attacks there from now on._

With a new battle strategy in mind, Lee hit the linebacker's hip with his knee, and then extended his leg to try and hit the Wisp in the neck. Using his impressive reflexes, the Gridiron Wisp caught the leg just as it was about to hit him, but it was a snare set up by Lee. With his other leg, Lee spun in the air like a corkscrew and kicked the footballer in the side of the neck anyway to force the release of his other leg and the toppling of the athlete.

Continuing his attack on the exposed neck, Lee walked up the fallen Gridiron Wisp and grabbed onto his muscle-laden arm. Using the captured arm a leash, Lee ground the heel of his shoe into the back of the linebacker's neck. After a few seconds of Lee having his fun humiliating his foe, the grinding foot shot up into the air and stomped down to drive the Wisp's head into the pavement. The impact of this managed to crack the face shield of his helmet, much to the delight of Lee.

With a new target to attack, Lee waited for the Gridiron Wisp to get back up, and then grabbed onto the back of his neck with both hands while jumping up to drive his knee into the newly-exposed face to send the linebacker crashing into the ground. His confidence still building, Lee reared back and motioned the linebacker to come closer to him while he waited to strike in his trademark Hitman stance.

What Lee didn't count on, however, was the Gridiron Wisp suddenly sidestepping the backhanded uppercut that Lee had intended to send him flying with. Quickly producing a set of brass knuckles from a burst of flame, the Gridiron Wisp split the two halves of Lee's helmet apart with a mighty hook punch. The impact of such an attack dazed Lee long enough for the Gridiron Wisp to ram his knee into Lee's abdomen and then fling him away with a swinging toss.

_Dammit: now MY face is going to get roughed up, _Lee thought bitterly while he rolled to his feet and watched the Gridiron Wisp come at him with his newly-armed fist raised. _Oh well, I was going to wrap this up anyway. _

Focusing all of his ki into his legs, Lee reared back and waited patiently for the linebacker to come in close enough for what he hoped to be the coup de grace. The Gridiron Wisp had lost his focus; Lee knew that if he timed it right, the final attack would be just that: the final attack. _Of course, if he ducks, then I'm in serious trouble, _Lee reminded himself while still waiting patiently for the Gridiron Wisp to come at him with his mad rampage in all its glory.

Once Lee had judged his attack would connect, Lee struck the Gridiron Wisp in the head with immense force using a high jumping roundhouse kick: his patented Silver Cyclone technique. The sheer impact of the strike shattered the linebacker's football helmet like an eggshell: revealing a dark purple mullet from the now-exposed head. The linebacker roared in agony as blue smoke erupted from all of its orifices, and letting out a long string of profanities along with it. After a few seconds of screaming and cursing, the Wisp fell silent as it fell onto its knees and dissipated in a puff of sapphire flames.

Before Lee could celebrate his victory, he heard the sound of wooden blocks clicking against the pavement and becoming gradually louder. Turning his head to see the source of the sound, the silver-haired playboy noticed that it was Paul running towards him with his wooden sandals, carrying the two halves of his helmet. "I got to tell you, man: you had me sweating there for a sec," Paul said as he stopped in front of Lee and handed him his helmet. "Producing brass knuckles: what a terrible fighter!"

"You should have seen the last guy," Lee replied with a smirk as he took his helmet and walked over to the black suitcase that was still sitting next to the debris that used to be Geki's noodle stand. Opening the suitcase and putting the two halves of the helmet inside of it, Lee sat down at one of the stools that were still standing and let out a sigh of relief. "Still, I'm glad the fight ended when it did: I don't think even I could have taken him out when he had that much stamina."

"Well, you did, and I'm proud of you for it," Paul said with a smirk before picking up his duffle bag and beginning to walk away. "You know, I can see why the aliens have faith in you: you're not as wimpy as I thought you were." Waving goodbye as he left, Paul voiced his farewell. "I'll see you later, buddy: maybe we'll fight each other at the next tournament…"

Suddenly, Paul stopped moving and froze in place, as if time had just stopped. Lee blinked for a moment, and then observed the rest of the marketplace to see the same symptom in everyone else. It was as if time had stood still and Lee was the only one still going.

"I am using my psychic powers to keep them all in place: now it's just the two of us."

Lee looked to his left to see the mystery woman in the trenchcoat that he had come across earlier. Remembering the allure of her voice, the silver-haired playboy put down his suitcase and once again bowed down to her in exaggerated fashion. "It's rare that I am faced with an enemy as beautiful as yourself," he said with a smile before assuming his fighting stance. "Shall we begin?"

Rather than assuming her own fighting stance, whatever it would have been, the mystery woman reached for her fedora and took it off of her head. She made a point to remove it as slowly as possible, if only to make Lee guess what her face looked like. Then, once the fedora had been removed completely and the veil of mystery was lifted, Lee was greeted with perhaps the most beautiful face he had ever seen…and he had seen plenty of exceptionally pretty faces, including his own.

The woman's face was paler than the moon, almost a chalky white, with lush full lips and stunning emerald eyes. Across her thin neck was a black choker, and in the center of the chocker was an eye ornament that had a maroon eyelid with the actual eye shining with all colors of the rainbow. Her hair was dark blue in color, almost as long as she was tall, going down to her knees tied in a lengthy braid. Near the end of the braid was a teal hair extended that was about eight inches long, and at the end of the hair extention was a golden metal ornament shaped like the head of a Chinese dragon.

"Next time we meet," she said with a smirk, shocking Lee out of his trance, "I just might show you the rest of my body." With that possibility on Lee's mind, she turned around and ran away at an inhuman speed that confused Lee all the more.

_She can't be an ordinary human, _Lee thought to himself while the people in the marketplace once again became mobile and went about their business as if nothing had happened. _I'll have to tell Jun about this…but man, was she fine!_ _Maybe next time, I'll risk leaving my helmet at home just to get her to show her face again…_


	5. Fetishist

When Lee Chaolan returned to the house and told Jun about the incident that happened at the marketplace, Jun was more than a little bit surprised. Originally she had thought that the shards that she and Lee possessed were the only two of their kind, hence the reason for the President of G-Corporation creating an unspoken truce with her by entrusting her with the shards. With Paul Phoenix's possession of one of the shards, however, Jun was forced to rethink the purpose of them as well as the extent of their existence.

_What bothers me more is that the shards seem to have a type of psychic connection with whoever holds them, if Paul was telling the truth about his shard, _Jun had thought when she had left the house that following morning to do her activities and chores for the day. _That means that Chaolan and I are the only ones in immediate danger thanks to the Wisps: it's like the shards are being drawn towards us to help us stop them._

Jun's first stop that Wednesday morning would be the Hibiya branch of the massive Tokyo Metropolitan Library. She still knew very little about both the Wisps and the shards: in fact, she had no idea what the "Rakshasa" were that the Wisps' leader compared her underlings to. Unfortunately, her attempts to discover information on either of them proved mostly fruitless.

Her attempts were mostly fruitless, but not entirely.

Jun was able to find a small article about Rakshasa using the library's entensive database. The Raksasha, like the mysterious leader of the Wisps described them, were unrighteous spirits in Buddhist and Hindu mythology that used to be wicked humans in their past lives. According to popular legend, the Rakshasa were notorious for evil deeds such as desecrating graves, harassing priests, possessing human beings, and feasting on mortal flesh.

So far, none of the Wisps that either she or Lee had encountered had displayed that kind of behavior. It was probably a good thing, too: if the Wisps were capable of possessing another human being like their Rakshasa counterparts were rumored to do, then it would make them even more dangerous opponents than they already were.

_But that still leaves the question of the shards, _Jun mumbled to herself after looking at her watching and seeing that it was now 2:00 PM and it had been four hours since she first arrived at the library to begin her research. _I still do not trust G-Corporation: why would they give me such valuable items and not expect anything in return…unless there's a side effect I don't know about._

Stretching her arms out and letting out a quiet yawn, Jun looked away from her computer screen and at her surroundings. The people around her had no idea of the dire situation they were in due the threat imposed by the Wisps and their leader, not that that was a bad thing. If they did know about the Wisps, there would probably be mild panicking and increased paranoia across the metropolitan area. _The last time something like this happened was not too long ago, _Jun reminded herself before pulling out her lone shard and looking at it intently. _However, Jin and his friends were there to act as icons for the city to look up to: for this crisis, it is just Chaolan and I._

Suddenly, Jun felt her shard pulsate in her hand, causing her eyes to widen and her senses to become sharpened. _Lee told me about this, _Jun thought as she turned around to give her surroundings another scan. _He said that when the Wisps' leader was in his presense, the shard would react accordingly. That means she's close by!_

Try as she might, however, Jun could not find the figure in the brown trenchcoat and matching fedora. After five minutes of focusing her energy on detecting any sort of unnatural aura that she would give off if she meant to attack, the former detective turned back to her computer and concluded her work. _If she is here, then I'm sure she'll announce herself, _Jun reasoned, if only to ease her own troubled mind. _She seems to be the type of person who enjoys making herself known in a unique way._

"Excuse me…are you Miss Jun Kazama?"

Turning to her left and looking up while putting the shard back her pocket, Jun identified the owner of the voice to be Julia Chang, a young woman who had competed in the King of Iron Fist Tournament several times. Wearing a white tanktop shirt and dark crimson jeans along with brown leather cowboy boots, Julia adjusted her glasses for a bit while she waited for Jun to acknowledge her.

"Yes I am," Jun said with a smile as she stood up and bowed to the young lady with long brown hair and a light tan. "You must be Julia: your mother told me about you a long time ago, but this is the first time that I have seen you face-to-face all grown up."

Slightly embarrassed that such a prominent figure in the King of Iron Fist Tournament's history recognized her, Julia blushed slightly and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. Once she regained control of herself, Julia spoke up once again. "I'm surprised you recognized me: I've been in the tournament four times now, and it seems that I'm always overshadowed by a lot of the other competitors. I recognized you from a photo that my mother has of you."

"Michelle has a photo of me? That's very flattering," Jun replied while maintaining a polite smile. "What brings you to Japan, Julia?"

"I'm right now in a student exchange program," the younger woman explained. "I came to this library to study for a final examination next week." After a couple of seconds of silent smiles, Julia turned to Jun's computer screen. "Is there anything in particular you were looking at?"

"I was doing some research for a personal project that I have been working on," Jun answered only partly telling the truth. This was the first time she had been formally introduced to the collegiate martial artist and she didn't want to make it the final time by getting her involved with the Wisps and their mischievous leader. "Would you like to have a look?"

Leaning in closer to see what Jun had been working on so intently, Julia tilted her head in confusion once she had discovered the older woman's "project." "Evil demons from Buddhist mythology: that's a very interesting subject to work on, Ms. Kazama…but I guess demons are nothing new to you."

Slightly confused by what Julia was implying, Jun tilted her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"

"My mother told me about how you plunged yourself into the center of the maelstrom that was the Mishima feud," the younger woman brushed her hair back and took a seat next to Jun while she explained to her what she meant by her words. "Your will to conquer the Devil spirit that resided within Kazuya was so strong that you even drove it away when it tried to claim your unborn son."

"That's…something I prefer not to dwell too much on." Jun paused for a moment, remembering the hectic and almost traumatic experience that event had proven to be. "I was young and reckless: I didn't think things through as much as I should have. However, I was able to make things work out in the end, and I guess that's what matters in the end."

Julia blinked upon hearing Jun take such a casual approach to a situation as bizarre as the one she just described. "Years after that happened, you were mauled by Toshin and went missing for seven years: I'd hardly call that 'working things out.' If I had your fortitude, then maybe I would I would have gotten farther in the tournaments!"

"Do you find my tenacity admirable, Julia?"

"I'm not the only one: by the time the last tournament ended, everyone who competed was excited at how the famous Jun Kazama had come back from the dead to unite the Mishima clan and effectively bring an end to the blood feud that had given the tournament a dark taint," Julia recalled while reacquainting herself with the hype that the tournament's conclusion had brought. "You should proud of what you did: you turned two of the most villainous customers in history into productive members of society."

"Are you referring to Heihachi and Kazuya?" Jun said, to which Julia nodded her head silently to maintain the quietness that the library rules demanded. "Heihachi turned himself into a 'productive member of society' by using his martial arts training to regain his focus and discover what his new mission would be: he was the driving force behind the reconciliation with his family."

"And what about Kazuya?" Julia asked with a raised eyebrow, her interest piqued thanks to the interesting topic she had just treaded upon.

"Kazuya is still a work in progress," Jun answered as calmly as she could, even though matters of the Cold-blooded Prince of the Mishima clan were always ones to be taken into deep consideration. "He has only recently begun to acknowledge that there is still goodness inside of him. All I can do is simply point him in the right direction: only he can decide whether or not to go that way."

"Most people, if not every other person, would have given up on that creep," Julia said with a hint of disdain before her expression became that of guilt. "Of course, it was only a couple of months ago that I learned that the person who funded my reforestation research at G-Corporation was a certifiable nutcase who wanted nothing more than to use my data as an agricultural weapon…"

"I assume you are talking about Jean Sorel," Jun said with a grim smile, to which Julia nodded while hanging her head low. "Jean has his own set of demons that he needs to conquer: I should know because I came face-to-face with them when he targeted Kazuya and Jin. Maybe one day, I will try and help him confront of those demons…"

"…or maybe we can just hope that we get a chance to knock him off his high horse at the next tournament so he can break his back on the way down," Julia finished Jun's analysis of their mutual foe before standing back up and preparing to go back to her work. "Thank you very much for talking with me, Ms. Kazama: wish me luck on the exam!"

"I am confident that someone like you does not need my blessing to do well on something as trivial as a test," Jun assured Julia with a nod and another sincere smile. "You will do just fine: there is no need to worry."

As Julia walked off and went back to her studies, Jun turned her head back to her computer screen and logged off of the library network. During the entire conversation with the young Chang, the pulsating shard continued to radiate waves of energy that flooded Jun's system and warning her of imminent danger…and yet, nothing had happened.

_She must be hiding somewhere, waiting for the chance to strike, _Jun stood up and picked up her purse and started to walk away from the computer terminal she was using. _If at all possible, I would prefer to move the battle away from innocent bystanders: it is fortunate that no one was hurt when Lee faced the Wisp at the marketplace yesterday._

"_Even when you could die at any moment, you still think about the safety of others,"_ a familiar voice echoed in Jun's head. _"That's an admirable trait to have: I'll acknowledge your concern. Go to the nearest transit station in three hours: I will be there waiting."_

With that challenge issued, Jun headed for the library exit and acted as if nothing had happened…even though she knew she was probably walking right into a carefully laid trap.

--

_Three hours later…_

As per the Wisp's leader's request, Jun walked into the transit station and expected to see the woman in her usual heavy attire an unnaturally empty station that was made that way thanks to her powerful telepathic abilities. With no one to bother them, the two would be able to settle their dispute.

Instead, Jun was greeted with the grotesque sight of six women hanging from the low ceiling, stripped down to their underwear and peppered with bloody lash marks they had just been whipped like wild animals. Their moans made their agony and pain obvious to Jun, who could feel their mental anguish anyway thanks to her own psychic powers. _What a cruel thing to do, _Jun mumbled as she scanned the area for her nemesis. _Why did she do this to these innocents?_

"He just wanted to make them beautiful…"

Slowly turning around to face the woman in the trenchcoat and fedora, Jun's eyes narrowed when she saw that the woman was not wearing her hat. Instead, her long navy hair and pale face were made apparent to the former detective's eyes. _I will admit, she is very pretty, _Jun thought as she slowly assumed her fighting stance. _However, that doesn't excuse her actions._

Before Jun could approach the woman, however, a powerful snapping sound echoed throughout the transit station. Quickly turning back around to where the women hanged above the ground, she laid eyes on their oppressor: a thin-but-muscular male wearing nothing but a black thong held bound together by two strands of barbed wire that went across his bare body in an "x," spiked ebony boots, a pair of rubber gloves, and a black gimp mask peppered with metal spikes that covered his entire face with a zipper hiding where the mouth should have been. "Let me introduce you to the Fetishist Wisp," the blue-haired woman began as the strange individual as he turned to face Jun. "He volunteered to give these women a touch of suffering to enhance their own beauty while we were waiting for you. At first I thought it wouldn't be such a good idea, but hey: morale needs to be kept up, so I let him have at it."

"You are truly a disgusting person," Jun replied, her gaze not leaving the approaching Wisp while he tightened his grip on his red bullwhip. "Why not stop hiding behind your specters and face me one-on-one?"

"All in good time, dear," the woman assured Jun as the Fetishist lashed out at Jun with his whip: an attack that Jun sidestepped out of the way from. "For now, entertain me and defeat this member of my group that even I find a bit repulsive…"

With her fist raised, Jun charged at the Fetishist just as his whip returned to a neutral position. The former detective successfully avoided another lash and punched the Fetishist squarely in the jaw. The impact would have knocked out an ordinary human, but the Fetishist simply moaned before returning the favor with a higher-impact slap to Jun's face that sent her stumbling backwards.

Dazed by the sudden outburst, Jun was left open to a devastating lash from the Fetishist's Wisp that cut at the sleeve of her coat like a knife. The Fetistist followed that lash with three more of its kind, the last of which sent Jun falling to the ground. Not giving Jun any respite, the Fetistist wrapped his whip around Jun's leg and pulled her towards him like a fisherman reeling in the catch of the day.

Once Jun was just under his foot, the Fetistist stomped on Jun's stomach rapidly like a jackhammer breaking concrete before kicking her away once he had his fun. _I don't think I've ever faced a whip fighter before, _Jun thought as she rolled with the impact of the kick back onto her feet and resumed her fighting stance. _Of course, it's too late to worry about that now: I'll just have to learn quickly._

Taking to the air, Jun leapt at the Fetishist and attempted to bring him down with a flying kick, but the Wisp countered by wrapping his whip across Jun and yanking her back down to the ground with a sickening thud. With a quiet groan, Jun struggled back onto her feet just in time to avoid a forward kick from the Fetishist's spiked boots. With a sudden burst of energy, Jun spun around the still-extended leg and sent the Fetishist sliding across the concrete floor with a swiping elbow.

Seeing her opportunity, Jun ran after the prone Wisp and took to the air in an attempt to bring down both her knees onto the Fetishist's sternum. The attack succeeded, and the Fetishist moaned accordingly while Jun rolled away and resumed her fighting stance once she came back onto her feet. The Fetishist, however, showed his unfazed it was back the attack to his midsection by sitting up as if nothing had happened and returning to his feet.

This time, the Fetishist took the offensive and surprised Jun with a sudden leaping headbutt, using his entire body as a battering ram and causing Jun to fall flat on her buttocks. The Fetishist flipped back to his feet before Jun could stand back up, and he responded accordingly by wrapping his whip around Jun's arm and using it to pull her closer to him. Jun struggled for a couple of seconds, but soon after went sliding across the ground in the wake of the Fetishist's surprising strength right into a powerful kick.

Rather than let Jun get away, the Fetishist maintained his hold on Jun's arm and pulled her back like a dog on a leash. With a moan, the Fetishist grabbed onto Jun's neck and lifted her into the air for a few moments before slamming her down into the pavement and eliciting a cry of pain. After grinding the heel of his shoe into Jun's back for a few moments, the Fetishist finally released his hold and let her roll away moaning in agony.

_My lack of experience against his martial art is obvious, _Jun mumbled as she struggled to her back onto her feet after being dragged across the ground for such an extended period of time. _However, I think I'm starting to see the method of his attacks: his whip allows him to attack from a distance, and can also use it to bring his opponent closer to him if he wishes it. All I have to do is get in closer when he doesn't want me to._

_Unfortunately, _Jun mumbled as she arched her back to avoid a devastating lash, _doing this task is easier said than done. _

Charging at the Fetishist once again, Jun successfully avoided another lash and knocked the Wisp so high into the air with a vertical elbowthat he actually hit the ceiling on his way up. Falling back down to the ground while gripping his head, the Fetishist was left vulnerable to an aerial combo consisting of two palm strikes, a straight punch, a horizontal elbow, and a spinning kick that sent him spiraling back down to the ground with a thud.

Mounting the prone monster before he could return to his feet, Jun lifted her fist and proceeded to pummel the Fetishist's masked face with a series of punches. Before she could conclude her flurry, however, the Fetishist used his impressive midsection strength to launch Jun off of him like a trampoline to cause her to crash into the ceiling just as he had. Before Jun could fall to the ground on her own accord, the Fetishist wrapped his whip around her neck and yanked her down face-first into the ground with a crash.

_Not quite the result I was looking for, _Jun wiped the blood from her mouth and grinned at the humor she found in her failure. _However, I did manage to hurt him just a little bit. If I can keep on making lucky shots like those, I might have a chance of defeating him. _Jun scoffed at her own modesty: luck would have nothing to do with her victory. All she had to do is trust in her abilities and she would be fine.

As she was thinking about that, the whip of her enemy suddenly wrapped around her neck once again and began to pull her towards the Fetishist, whose free hand was now burning with blue fire. _He intends to end this now, _Jun thought as she tried to keep the Fetishist from strangling the life from her. _I guess I should try and do the same._

To the Fetishist's surprise, Jun suddenly stopped struggling and instead ran towards the Fetishist with the whip still wrapped around her neck. Unable to counterattack except to hope that his burning fist would connect, the Fetishist let his fiery hand go wild. Jun ducked under the burning fist and answered the attack with a ki-infused palm to the stomach that caused the fiend to crumple to the ground: the Kazama-ryu technique known as the Vacuum Mist Palm.

With the whip still wrapped around her neck, Jun lifted her foot and planted the heel of her shoe squarely in the chest of the Fetishist. The Fetishist ironically moaned in pain as Jun suddenly returned the favor done to her moments earlier and sent the Wisp flying with a standing punt. To Jun's good fortune, the Fetishist let go of his weapon, as well.

"Finally," Jun said out loud as she loosened the whip around her neck and tossed it aside where it burst into a cloud of blue smoke. "Now I can end this!"

Ducking under the Fetishist's wild punch that made apparent his lack of hand-to-hand combat knowledge, Jun grabbed onto the Fetishist's entire body and slammed him headfirst into the ground before going back up and flinging him high into the air and send him crashing into the ceiling once again. As the Fetishist came down, Jun's fist shot straight up like a spike and hit the falling Wisp squarely in the gut before letting him fall to the ground.

As the Fetishist struggled back onto his feet, Jun took to the offensive once again and bombarded her foe with a powerful ten-hit combination: a snapping elbow and a quick palm thrust, followed by two quick punches and another quick elbow which were in turn followed by a pair of knees, a low kick, and finally a stronger palm thrust that sent the Fetishist reeling backwards and onto the ground.

Rearing back and focusing all of her ki into her left leg, Jun spiraled towards the stumbling Fetishist like an uncontrollable sparkling tornado. The Fetishist could do nothing as Jun applied her foot to his face with cyclonic speed and let out a stream of blue smoke from whatever orifices weren't covered in the wake of the former detective's spinning heel drop. The Fetishist moaned and howled as his body lost its solid form, and eventually the moans faded while his entire being became lost in a sea of smoke.

"Very impressive," Jun heard a familiar female voice say, causing her to turn around and see the pale woman that had sent to Wisp to attack her fold her arms and raise her eyebrow. "You defeated the Fetishist without any sort of help: at least I know I'm not dealing with a slouch."

The times for words was over in Jun's eyes, however, as she let out a shout and charged the woman with violent intent. Tossing a sharply honed punch at her foe's face, Jun was dodged and got an even sharper kick to the stomach for her troubles. The woman let out a quick laugh before feeling her face and suddenly gasping: it would seem that she had not completely dodged Jun's attack, and a small scrape was revealing her black blood.

"Hmmm…normally I would kill you now for such a sin," the woman said with a sneer before walking up the staircase of the transit station that would lead to the surface. "However, I think it deserves some extra punishment: I'll think about what that punishment will be for the next time we meet…"

_Again, I let her get away, _Jun thought bitterly as she turned to the six women still hanging from the ceiling. _Sooner or later I'm going to have to make a stand and target her before targeting her henchmen. For now, however, I'm going to need to focus on these poor innocents. _Pulling out her cellphone from her purse that was sitting under one of the women, Jun flipped it open and called the hospital while starting to get the women down from their hanging states. _In order to protect the dreams of people like Julia, I have no choice but to fight. And if these Wisps become more public in their actions…then I will just have to become an icon too!_


	6. Assassin

Try as he might, Lee could not forget about the woman in the trenchcoat.

It wasn't because the woman had made two attempts on her life: it wasn't even because she was planning to resurrect some unknown deity of destruction (at least according to Jun's story). It was because she was, simply put, the most beautiful female specimen Lee had ever laid eyes on, and with forty-nine years experience of wooing the opposite sex that was quite an accomplishment.

Lee's fascination with the opposite sex had existed for as long as he could remember. Even when he was an orphan on the harsh streets of the city, Lee's love for women knew no bounds. As he eventually graduated from a young boy to a young man, his fascination became greater and greater, almost bordering on an obsession. The several lovely women that regularly participated in the King of Iron Fist Tournament only enhanced his idolization.

Despite this way of thinking, however, Lee was completely blinded by physical beauty. While he had a venerable harem of women in the Bahamas, he saw them nothing more than playmates. The woman in the trenchcoat had an allure to her that he could only compare to that of the Williams sisters: two of the most beautiful ladies he had known who both had personality quirks that would give any psychologist and therapist a field day that they wouldn't soon forget.

The woman in the trenchcoat was feisty, she was mysterious, and above all she was dangerous: three traits that Lee couldn't resist.

However, Lee reminded himself that in spite of these traits she was still the leader of the Wisps, and attempting to woo her at this point and time would not only be futile, it would be close to suicidal. So in order to forget about the woman for the time being, Lee decided to take advantage of his usual Thursday night routine: going to the biggest and most expensive gentleman's club in Tokyo located in the Shinjuku district with his favorite black tuxedo as his attire.

The gentleman's club in question, which had been going by the name of "Divinity" at the time, had been Lee's most frequented adult entertainment location since he first returned to Tokyo after the fourth King of Iron Fist Tournament was announced. It had been run by the Yakuza in the past (and, by that connection, indirectly controlled by Kazuya Mishima when he controlled the criminal faction during his Zaibatsu reign), but had been sold to another wealthy businessman and opened to the public. The food was good, the company was pleasant, and the women were always of the highest caliber.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Lee Chaolan has arrived," Lee shouted out to no one in particular one he got past the bouncer with his smooth communication skills. "Now that I'm here, this fine club just got even finer!" With his aura of confidence and self-efficacy, the silver-haired playboy was well known to the regulars of Divinity: some thought of him as ridiculously arrogant, and others thought of him as an eccentric. However, most everyone would agree that Lee was, for all of his flaws, a party animal who loved to have fun.

After being escorted by the waiter to his usual seat right next to the main stage, Lee ordered his usual drink and waited for the show to begin. Even though the women were the primary reason he came to Divinity every Thursday, sometimes the food would warrant the money he spent on convincing the bouncer to let him in. _It's not Geki's stand, but then again it's not noodles I'm ordering, _Lee thought while he stretched his arms out and made himself comfortable. _Let's see what the menu has to offer for me today._

Before he could start browsing for what he would be munching on while topless women slid up and down a metal pole in front of him before giving him his usual lap dance, a loud shout entered his ears, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the ground. Quickly darting his head to his left, Lee saw the problem: a tall, deep-tanned man with curly black hair wearing in a long black fur coat and a pair of brown jeans swatting away the bouncers and making his way towards him. _Who is this guy?, _Lee mumbled as he stood up out of his seat. _He looks pretty tough._

"Hey you: the gringo with the silver hair," the man spoke in a heavy Spanish accent, pointing directly at Lee. "Are you Lee Chaolan?"

"Of course," Lee hid his insecurities with a smile and a polite bow. "How may I be of service?"

"I challenge you to a fight, jefe…unless you're afraid to lose," the man said before spitting on the ground and assuming a very relaxed-looking fighting stance. "Come on, if you're worth your salt, then this shouldn't be a problem for you."

"Mr. Chaolan, please," one of the waiters came between Lee and the stranger, even though it probably wasn't the safest of places to be given the violent intent burning in the stranger's eyes. "You don't need to deal with this ruffian: we'll call the police and let him be their problem."

"Sorry, friend, but he did ask politely," Lee said with a smirk before shooing the waiter away and assuming his own fighting stance. "Besides, I think your patrons and guests would enjoy a little sideshow before the main event." After a quick kicking demonstration, Lee accepted the stranger's challenge with a simple "come on."

As soon as Lee said that, however, the stranger suddenly sprang into action and lunged at the silver-haired playboy with surprising speed for a man of his height. Unable to hide his surprise, Lee was left open with a quick jab to the stomach, which was immediately followed by a wild hook punch that knocked him off his feet and onto the ground. _What a blow, _Lee muttered as he swept the stranger of his feet with a low kick before standing back up. _Whoever he is, he's got quite a lot of power in his punch!_

As soon as the stranger stood back up, Miguel punched him in the face twice with a quick left-right combination, which was immediately followed up by a quick kick to his hip. The stranger quickly recovered from such light hits, and countered with a hammer-like elbow to the top of Lee's head. Lee groaned as he crouched down from the impact of the attack, but rose back up a snapping uppercut to the stranger's chin, stunning him long enough for Lee to send him sprawling backwards with a Pulse Blast.

The taller man rolled back onto his feet and dusted himself off before blocking a standing roundhouse kick and countering with a quick knee to the sternum. With his foe stunned from the attack, the man followed up with a swift elbow to the side of the head that caused Lee to take a few steps back and grip where he was struck. This allowed the stranger to grab onto Lee's head about put him in a headlock for a couple of seconds before twirling him around like a top and send him spiraling to the ground.

When he tried to continue the assault by stomping on Lee's fallen body, the silver-haired playboy rolled backwards and avoided the stranger's foot. The time it took for him to get back up was shorter than the time it took for the stranger to get back into a safer position, and he was sent rocketing into the air with a powerful arcing vertical kick. Chasing after his airborne foe, Lee continued the attack with a hopping kick that kept the stranger in the air just a bit longer for the tuxedo-donning martial artist to punch his foe with three hooks of his own. The final hook smashed the stranger back into the ground, where Lee pounced upon him with a falling fist drop.

"You are a tough son of a bitch," the stranger said as Lee rolled away to get to a safe distance while his foe stood back up and dusted himself off. "At least I know I have the right person, eh?" With that reassurance, the stranger motioned Lee to come closer to him. "What are you waiting for, jefe?"

Not one to shirk from an enemy taunt, Lee approached the stranger quickly but carefully, avoiding a straight punch to latch onto his shoulders and prepare to ram his knee into his foe's face. However, the stranger broke the hold just as soon as Lee's knee went into action, and so the silver-haired playboy hit nothing but air while his opponent hit nothing but Lee's cheek.

Lee gently rubbed where he was hit and let out a sigh of relief that he wasn't bleeding. _That would have been the second time this week someone would have damaged my face, _he muttered before moving his head to the side to avoid another straight punch and sending the stranger flying backwards with a leaping Silver Sting. _From what I can tell, this guy doesn't really have a fighting style. He's a brawler, pure and simple: maybe I can use that to my advantage._

Even though Lee told himself that having a fighting style would give him an edge, he didn't entire believe it due to the stranger catching his next attack and using it to bring him into another devastating headlock that threatened to strangle the life out of him if not for being let go shortly thereafter to send him spinning to the ground with another twist of his neck. While the stranger's method of fighting might not have been a trained one, his size advantage negated any noticeable disadvantages it would have brought him.

Picking up Lee off the ground like a garbage man picking up a bag of trash, the stranger allowed himself an arrogant smirk before ramming his knee into Lee's abdomen twice before punching him into the throat another two times and dropping him back to his feet where Lee staggered and gasped for air. With that opening given to him, the stranger bashed Lee in the stomach once again before sending him spinning to the ground with another wild hook.

"Okay…you've made your point, big guy," Lee said between breaths as he struggled back to his feet and entered his Hitman stance, motioning the stranger to come closer to him. "Come on: now I get serious!"

Accepting Lee's challenge, the stranger came rushing at Lee with his fiery red ki bursting his hand with what he hoped to be the final blow. However, what he received instead of an immediate victory with a snapping backhanded uppercut that knocked him high into the air. Lee pursued his airborne foe with another Silver Sting kick that sent the stranger crashing into one of the bouncers who was watching the match intently.

After shoving the bouncer away, the stranger was sent into the air once again with a jumping knee, and assaulted further with a pair of high kick and a back flip kick immediately followed by a Pulse Blast that propelled Lee's foe further away. "I'm grateful for you coming, big man," Lee said while he posed for the crowd. "For the past few days I've been dealing with nothing but inhuman beasts: facing a ruffian like yourself is sort of refreshing."

The stranger landed on his feet and came rushing at Lee with his fist raised, deviating from his usually lax stance that he seemed to enjoy using. With a rapid series of lefts and rights that would have made a boxer drool with envy, the dark-haired assailant threw all manner of punches at his foe hoping that at least one of them would have an effect. However, once Lee's confidence had reached a certain point, it was almost impossible to bring him down: Lee dodged all the punches and countered with a rapid series of left kicks that rained upon the stranger's body before sending him to the ground with a standing roundhouse to the head.

Once again assuming his Hitman stance, Lee reared back and waited patiently for the taller man to stand back up so he can bring him right back down with another attack of his choosing. _I can't believe there was a time I once wanted to move away from the fighting circuits for good, _Lee thought while the taller man staggered back onto his feet, his nose bloodied from the last attack. _This feeling: it's like cocaine. It's as addicting as it is refreshing: once you start, you can't stop!_

"You're pretty good, amigo," the stranger suddenly said before standing back up and dusting off his jacket. "Here I just thought you were some pampered pretty boy, but it looks like the voices in my head were right to lead me to you." Pulling something out of his pocket and holding it in front of him so Lee could see it, the stranger asked a question. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yeah…I do," Lee nodded his head as he recognized the blue shard that was identical to the one that Jun and Paul gave him earlier in the week. Lowering his fists and walking towards the bigger man, Lee outstretched his hand while his former opponent put the shard back in his pocket. "Did it talk to you, too?"

"Si," the man nodded his head and shook Lee's hand before following the elder fighter to his table once he assured the manager of the club that there was no need to contact the authorities. "I found it off of some idiota that tried to challenge me in a bar fight the other day. As soon I picked it up, it told me to look for you." Sitting down at the empty seat next to Lee's, the stranger made himself comfortable and waited for the women to come out for the show. "I don't suppose you would know anything about that?"

"I do, but I'd prefer to keep it to myself," Lee said in a more serious tone while he pulled out the two shards in his pocket and showed them to the man. "I'm sure you can understand that: after all, talking pieces of jewelry is serious business!"

"Heh, not as serious as the business I'm doing…by the way, my name is Miguel Caballero Rojo," the man introduced himself with a chuckle, amused at how Lee thought his business was more important than his own. Once the waiter arrived with champagne, the man called Miguel greedily popped open the bottle and poured himself a glass first. "But whatever: I won't ask what you're doing if you don't ask what I'm doing."

"Sounds fair to me, Mr. Rojo," Lee shrugged before pouring a glass of champagne for himself while the lights darkened and a familiar industrial track played over the loudspeakers of the club. "For now, let's enjoy the show: I'm sure a borderline-nude female with near-perfect curves will ease the pain of our bruises."

_Still, it's like those shards are being drawn to me, _Lee added in his mind with the industrial track continued to play over the loudspeakers and the room became completely dark and relatively silent with the exception of the track. _First it was Jun, then it was Paul, and now it's this guy. I wonder what it's all about. _

Suddenly, the lights behind the see-through curtain turned on to reveal the silhouette of a slim-but-buxom young lady with a long braid going all the way down to her buttocks, wearing something (if anything) that revealed her fine figure to the crowd while hanging onto the metal pole connecting the stage floor to the ceiling. With a smile, Lee put his doubts aside. _I'll worry about it later: for now, there are no Wisps, and more importantly no lady in a trenchcoat and fedora!_

When the curtain came up, however, Lee reassessed the situation he was in, as the woman caressing the pole happened to be the same woman in the trenchcoat and fedora…only without those two key pieces of apparel in her position. In fact, with the exception of the choice of very peculiar but minimal clothing, she was barely wearing anything at all.

What she was wearing, on the other hand, was something that Lee could only described as a bizarre one-piece dark purple bathing suit, with the bottom and the top connected by a spiraling helix that ended right at her breasts that covered her nipples with two dragon heads, and left everything else in that area exposed for the world to see while also leaving her navel and toned abs on display. Her legs were covered in porous chainmail that Lee could only describe as "metal stockings," and her feet were covered in violet high-heeled boots with a snake's head were the toes would meet. With fingerless dark red metal gloves that went up to her elbow, the woman that was once a mystery lifted the microphone that had been in her hand and spoke in that beautiful voice that Lee found mystifying.

"My name is Nagalya," she said, surprising Lee a bit in how she revealed her name but not enough to shock him out of the trance he was in. "I hope you treat me well on my first night in…" Using her free hand to brush back her long braid that was sitting on her shoulder, the mistress of the Wisps slowly bobbed her head up and down to the industrial track that was still playing. "This goes out to a certain silver-haired Devil that's been on my mind recently: wherever you are, this is for you Scrumptious."

"Hey, that shard is acting weird," Miguel whispered to Lee, temporarily breaking his focus much to his dismay. "Ever since that chica came on, it's been beating like a drum."

"Well, that's probably because she's the reason that it brought you here," Lee answered in an almost zombie-like tone with Nagalya slid up and down the pole waiting for the music to start. "We'll deal with it…after the show." After what seemed like an eternity, the industrial track concluded with the sound of two familiar electric guitar riffs as Nagalya arched her head back and began her song.

**Hey God, why are you doing this to me?**

Two more riffs, and two more poses for Nagalya.

**Am I not living up to what I'm supposed to be?**

Everyone in the room had her eyes on her, as she spun around the pole for the next verse.

**Why am I seething with this animosity?**

Once that verse was done, Nagalya tightened her grip on her microphone and pounded the next verse into her audience's minds to add an exclamation point to her performance.

**Hey God, I think you owe me a great big apology!**

Letting the music track sing the iconic "Terrible Lie" verse for her, Nagalya slowly slid up and down the pole, caressing its stiff frame while moaning in ecstacy. Whether she was genuinely having fun or just putting on an act for her sensual play was anyone's guess, but in Lee and Miguel's eyes she was definitely enjoying herself.

"How do you get pale skin like that," Miguel whispered to Lee while Nagalya arched back as far as she could and looked right at the two fighters. "Maybe she has some sort of disease?"

"If she's a disease, she can infect me all she wants," Lee whispered, his eyes still fixated on the woman that only two days before tried to have him trampled under the foot of a ghostly football player. "I have seen countless women and slept with a lot of them, but this lady…this lady is something else…"

After letting the music play for a while, Nagalya straightened herself out and licked the pole before letting go and starting to move around the stage. Normally the harsh tones of the song she was choosing the sing would not make good music for a gentleman's club, but her stunning voice and even more stunning figure made it work.

**Hey God, I really don't know what you mean.**

Hopping off the stage and into the crowd were a spotlight followed her, Nagalya slowly and sultrily made her way to Lee and Miguel's table, pausing to quickly brush her hair back once again at the behest of the two definitive guitar riffs.

**Seems like salvation comes only in our dreams…**

As she sang the next verse, Nagalya ran her free hand down Miguel's chiseled abs while he stifled a yawn. She quickly became bored with him thanks to that non-verbal insult, and quickly turned her head towards in Lee's direction and made her way towards him.

**I feel my longing grow all the more extreme.**

Modifying the verse ever so slightly to fit the situation she was in, Nagalya sat down on Lee's lap and ran her hand across his cheek where the scab that he received form the first Wisp attack had almost faded. Not even the rapid pulsating of the shards in his pocket could drown out the rapid beating of his heart. Lee Chaolan, who had slept with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of women in his lifetime was completely under the spell of this very pale, very buxom and very mysterious leader of the Wisps. Her voice was not only in her ears, it was even in his head.

**Hey god, can this world really be as bad as it seems?**

"Got you!"

Even though Nagalya continued to sing as if nothing had happened, Miguel's shout that made it known that he caught something or someone was enough to break Lee out of his trance and turn to where Miguel was standing out of his seat. In his left hand was the neck of a female figure dressed completely in black save for her glowing yellow eyes and a shiny spike in each palm. With the room so dark and only the spotlight to give some vision, it looked as if Miguel was holding a shadow.

Immediately recognizing the shadow as the Wisp, Lee went against his heart's desire and gently pushed Nagalya away to roundhouse kick the mystery Wisp in the head with a Silver Cyclone. The Wisp said nothing as a sickening snap was heard and her body dissipated in blue smoke.

Nagalya, however, did not seem insulted by Lee's brush off or even angry that her Wisp minion had been dispatched so easily. Instead, she slowly wrapped her arms around Lee's torso and gently kissed him on the cheek that she had been caressing seconds earlier. _Oh man: between the vibes of the shards and the touch her lips, I'm in paradise. _Lee let out a quiet moan before slowly turning around to face the sultry singer and taking a few steps back. _However, business before pleasure…_

"_You defeated the Assassin Wisp in one shot: you should be proud," _Lee heard her voice in his head as she put the microphone closer to her lips. _"Of course, the damage has already been done. You might as well sit back and enjoy the rest of the show."_

**Please don't take it away from me.**

**I need** **someone to hold on to…**

Nagalya whispered those two sentences over and over into her microphone while she evaded Lee's punches and kicks as if he was going in slow motion. Her voice became a little more frantic with every repetition, and Lee's attacks became slower and slower as he grew fatigued. Once Lee stopped his flurry to take a quick breather, Nagalya's voice crescendoed with the new guitar solo blaring in the background while she sent Lee sliding across the club with a devastating standing spin kick.

Miguel fared no better, for as soon as he tried to grab the woman who was obviously intending to do him harm, she knocked him away with a microphone to the forehead. The brawler moaned in pain as he gripped his bleeding face, and Nagalya moaned back at him in mocking contempt.

The lights suddenly brightened slightly as soon as Lee stood back up and saw that no one else in the club was paying attention to either him, Miguel, or even Nagalya. In fact, it looked as if they were all sleeping. Turning to his left to see some of the other people, he saw a thin, bloody hole in each of their necks. _I get it now: she was usually her sex appeal as a distraction so that the Wisp could kill them! What a dastardly plot._

**Hey God, there's nothing left for me to hide.**

Nagalya made her way towards the silver-haired playboy and put her hand on his cheek yet again. Once she was sure she had Lee's attention, Nagalya continued her song.

**I lost my ignorance, security and pride.**

**I'm all alone in a world you must despise.**

**Hey God I believed all your promises, your promises and lies.**

"_It's unfortunate that you had to see a darker side of me so soon," _Lee heard her speak in his mind while he looked down for a moment to see that the ornament on her choker was pulsating at the same tempo as his shards. _"Don't worry, though: I have no intention of letting you meet such a fate."_

Putting her microphone onto a table, Nagalya left Lee dumbfounded on his feet and started walked out the door while picking up a familiar trenchcoat and fedora that was sitting at another table. The music was still playing when she turned to face Lee one last time, and then left the building to the sound of silence.

"That's quite a loco chica you have there, senor Chaolan," Miguel said as he came over to Lee's side with a napkin pressed against his forehead. Pulling out the shard that was still in his pocket, the taller man gave his elder counterpart the item that might have saved him from meeting the same fate as the other patrons. "Here: consider this your gift for beating me. I'm just going to walk away and pretend none of this happened."

Putting the shard in his pocket, Lee looked around at the sea of corpses and fought back his urge to panic and instead focused on the woman that had just kicked him across the room. _So her name is Nagalya, _he muttered as he took his cell phone out of his other pocket and called the police. _A dynamite body, a flawless face, and an attitude to match: I swear, by my pride as a martial artist, I will make her mine!_


	7. Rifleman

Finally, Jun Kazama had a name she could work with.

The incident at the Divinity Gentleman's Club was regarded as an unsolvable mystery. Lee Chaolan was released from custody only a couple of hours after he was taken to the nearest police station for questioning. Everyone in the club with the exception of Lee, the traveling Miguel Caballero Rojo, and two of the cooks had perished quietly and unexpectedly with thin holes in all of the victims' necks indicating a stab wound with a needle of some kind. The authorities thus far had been unable to figure out what could kill them so silently and so stealthily.

_The answer, of course, is that the assassins were not human, _Jun thought while she read the article in the newspaper. _However, it is very fortunate that Lee was able to put aside his primal urges and maintain a cool head: he was able to give me something very important._

The very important thing in question was the name "Nagalya." While only a first name might not have seemed like much of a clue, such a title was relatively uncommon and Jun also had an accurate facial description of the Wisp leader to work with. As soon as Jun heard Lee's story once he came back from the gentleman's club, she immediately called Heihachi and requested his aid in discovering more about the woman with the new information made apparent.

"Hmph," Heihachi said with a scoff over the phone. "I suppose I can give you at least that much aid. It is at least comforting to know that you have not been slacking off between tournaments."

Jun had not yet received a call from Heihachi, but her cell phone was at the ready and with her at all times. While most of her fellow King of Iron Fist Tournament competitors felt that trusting Heihachi was the most naïve thing a person could do with his history of deceit, Jun recalled how Heihachi had aided her in the past three months and that was enough to put him in her immediate circle of allies. _He will follow through, if he is able to find anything, _she reassured herself when she left the house that morning. _In the meantime, I will continue my own investigation._

Putting down her newspaper and looking down the balcony to see the sea of people, Jun picked up her cup of tea and gently sipped it. With the mystery of the woman now in someone else's hands, Jun had spent the day at the largest mall in Tokyo where over fifteen different jewelers resided. Surely at least one of them would be able to identity the blue metal that she carried with her at all times in case of a Wisp attack.

It was only 10:30 AM, and Jun had already visited three of the jewelers in question. "It's very beautiful," they had told her, almost as if they had rehearsed the line in advance, "but we don't have any kind of precious metal like that in our database. If you like, we could compare it to our other fine jewelry and maybe we can find something that would go along well with it."

While she gave the jewelers credit for not losing sight of their goal to sell her something in the wake of an unknown metal, Jun was not looking to enhance her elegance with the blue shard: she was looking to find more of its kind as well as the properties of it that made it so poisonous to the Wisps. Once she found that out, it wouldn't be too hard to have the Zaibatsu Heavy Industries to manufacture something similar to it and eradicate the specters on a wider scale.

_It probably won't be that easy, _Jun told herself while she opened up her purse and dropped some loose change on the table to act as her waiter's tip. _I would be surprised if any of the jewelers knew anything about this shard: it gives off its own aura like it's a living thing, and even talks with whoever has in its possession…at least when it wants to._

There were now two incidents where the blue shards had psychically interacted with their owners, and both of them said the same thing: "Bring me to Lee Chaolan." _There is obviously something special about Chaolan that I do not know about, but why is he so important? I was the one who was given the two shards: he was just the one I chose to share it with. _She thought while she walked across the balcony and towards the next few line of stores. _There's definitely something that the President of G-Corporation didn't tell me, and I'm not about to ask him about it like I'm his friend…_

Jun put that thought on hold as she stopped in front of a large clothing store and looked around. Someone was following her, and it wasn't the President of G-Corporation. _It's a new aura entirely, _she muttered as she turned around and searched for anyone suspicious. _Is it a new Wisp?_

"It's been a while, Ms. Kazama."

To Jun's surprise, the voice came from above, causing her to look up and see a figure drop from the ceiling high above and softly landed a few feet away from her. The figure was a dark-skinned male, wearing a navy blue Kevlar vest with gold lining, and pants made of the same material and color. His arms were bare, leaving the kanji tattoos on his upper biceps for the world to see. Straightening his black shades, the man spoke in a cold and deep voice. "I hope that was not too flashy an entrance."

"Of course not," Jun replied with her usual calm and collected tone. "May I ask who I have the honor of speaking to? You seem to remember me, but I don't believe I have seen you before…"

"You can call me Raven: we crossed paths at the last tournament, but that was when your memory had not yet returned," the man said while he stood back up and folded his arms. "I work for an international spy agency, and they have had their attention on you for some time now."

"Is that so? For an international spy you do not seem particularly secretive," Jun commented on Raven's introduction with a raised eyebrow of amusement. "To what do I owe the pleasure of you revealing yourself to me?"

"My superiors would like to aid you in your ghost busting, Ms. Kazama," Raven answered. "The ever-important encounter you had with the leader of G-Corporation did not escape our attention, nor did your battle with the Pierrot Wisp at the park and the Fetishist Wisp at the transit station. Ms. Kazama, we are willing to give you the answers that you seek regarding the shards."

"That would make my trip today a little bit easier, but I would rather find the answers myself," Jun bowed her head and turned around. "As a former detective, it is a matter of pride. Now if you will excuse me, I have to search the mall for jewelers who can help me find the answers I seek. It was a pleasure meeting you, Raven-san."

However, Jun quickly twirled around and caught something that Raven had attempted to throw at her while she wasn't looking using her keen awareness and quick reflexes. Opening her palm and expecting to see a small weapon like a needle or dart, her eyes widened when she saw that it was another blue shard. _They have been appearing a lot more often these past couple of days: why does Raven have one, as well?_

"If you are wondering where I got that, it was given to me last night," Raven answered Jun's unspoken questions as he lowered his hand and returned his arms in their folded position. "The shard spoke to me, and told me to give it to Lee Chaolan just like it spoke to Paul Phoenix and Miguel Caballero Rojo."

"What do you know about Lee's involvement with the shards?" Jun suddenly asked, surprising Raven with her sudden interest in his involvement, though he didn't show it with any noticeable facial reaction. "I asked Lee to help me, and yet it seems the shards have been gravitating towards him."

"We are still investigating that, but we do have some idea as to what the shards are," Raven lifted his right hand and pointed to the shard he had just given the former detective. "All across history, there are legends of certain metals that were said to have magic properties: I'm sure you have heard of at least a couple of them."

"As a matter of fact, I have," Jun nodded her head before her eyes narrowed and her tone changed to a slightly harsher one. "However, I cannot base my investigation on legends even in this time of supernatural crisis. I am sure you can understand my unwillingness to assume that these shards are from a particular legend."

"I find that particularly difficult to believe, being that you were maimed and nearly killed by a creature that practically a myth prior to its sudden resurrection," Raven pointed out while he pushed up his shades. "Whatever the case, we have reason to believe that the shards are made from one of those magic metals. It is also possible that it was at one time a full weapon, like the Excalibur of Arthurian legend or the Sky Piercer of Chinese literature."

"…I suppose that is a possibility," Jun admitted while she looked down intently at the shard. "However, that still does not explain the sudden appearance of the Wisps, and why your organization seems to know more about this matter than I do."

"That is strictly confidential, Ms. Kazama: you would be wise not to look further into the matter."

"Then I will tell you this, Mr. Raven," Jun walked towards Raven until she was right in front of him, and then took off her sunglasses to let her brown eyes burn into the ninja's soul. "I want you to stay out of this: your information is much appreciated, but I will not have more people than necessary involved in this madness. It is bad enough that I have dragged Chaolan into the chaos, and I will certainly not have shady government organizations sniffing around and adding fuel to the fire."

"You are a bit…spunkier than I expected you to be," Raven finally said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. "Unfortunately, I cannot acquiesce to your requests: just as you have your moral obligations to protect the innocent I have my own professional duties to do the same. I cannot carry out these duties when I am focusing on trivial matters such as your personal preference in handling things."

"Let me put this another way, Mr. Raven," Jun took a step back and put her sunglasses back on and raised her eyebrows to demonstrate the severity of her resolve. "If you impede on my investigation, I will use my connections within the Zaibatsu to track down your organization, go to its headquarters and personally have a word with your superiors. I have already experienced death, and I doubt anything less than that would scare me at this point."

"For someone who is supposedly a peaceful woman, you have quite a temper," Raven replied with a hint of amusement in his voice: a rare lapse in his otherwise stoic character. "However, I can see why you would find this personal. After all, it is only natural that a ghost should find herself occupied with other ghosts."

"I may have been a ghost in the tournament, but I have changed since then," Jun said before once again turning around and preparing to leave. "Goodbye, Mr. Raven: hopefully the next time we meet, it will be when the Wisps are gone."

"It is a shame that you are in such an unhelpful mood," Raven shook his head at Jun's lack of gratitude from the information he divulged to her. "I was sort of hoping you could prove your resolve with your fists, but I suppose you are Jun Kazama the advocate of unity and peace…"

As soon as Raven finished that last caustic comment, Jun paused and turned her head to the left slightly. "Did I touch a nerve, Ms. Kazama?" Raven asked before assuming his fighting stance. "Are you going to humor me after all?"

"There is a Wisp close by," Jun answered as she put her bags down and scanned her surroundings. "I can sense its ki, but it keeps bouncing around. I don't suppose you can sense things like that too, can you?"

"Of course I can: I am a ninja after all," Raven replied with almost a hint of hurt in his voice as he eased away from his fighting stance. After a few seconds of silence, the spy spoke up once again. "He keeps moving around quickly: it's possible that he has teleportation abilities."

"You sound as if such a thing is commonplace," Jun commented as she looked down the balcony to see people running around frantically in the midst of a few fallen bodies. "Are teleporters and the like recurring foes for the organization?"

"The technology for a feat like that isn't too unimaginable, thanks to the advances of G-Corporation and Mishima Heavy Industries." Raven pointed to his left, and then nodded towards Jun before pointing towards his right. "I will look this way: you can search that way."

Although Jun wasn't obliged to listen to Raven's orders, she did agree that splitting up might save more lives and so went on her way to search for the missing Wisp. _I don't mean to be so hypocritical by accepting his help, but right now I could use the extra person, _she thought as she slowly and carefully advanced through the emptying mall area. _Still, I'm surprised at myself for being so vehemently against his organization's help to begin with. Maybe it really is my pride as a former WWWC officer setting in._

Hearing an anguished cry close by, Jun turned to her right to see a store clerk fall flat on her face onto a cash register with only a faint trail of blue smoke to show for it. _That smoke is definitely from a Wisp: its ki signature is still lingering. _Jun ran into the store against the stream of people coming out of it and checked the woman for a pulse. _Already dead: I wonder what sort of power did this._

Another cry later, Jun turned back around to see the final person leaving the store fall to the ground clutching their chest. The former detective fell to her knees and kneeled over the fallen consumer, and watched as the last signs of life left his body and caused him to go limp. After closing his dead eyes with her fingers, Jun removed his hand from his chest and noticed a small wound. _It looks like a bullet wound, but there is too little blood. Whoever I'm dealing with is branding some kind of firearm._

As she continued to ponder the mysterious assailant that was picking off innocent people, Jun felt a buzzing in her jacket pocket that shocked her out of her train of thought. Taking the phone out of the pocket and flipping it open, Jun greeted the caller with a polite hello.

"Hey, Jun," she heard a familiar voice call out to her. "I'd figure I would come here to this mall and help you find the right jeweler for the shards. Where are you right now?"

"I'm on the third floor on the east wing: there's a Wisp attacking innocent people," Jun answered Lee with cold realism as she stepped out of the store and went back out into the main area. "Keep your eyes open and your senses clean: it might be targeting them to get to us."

"You've got to be kidding me: it's the middle of the morning," Lee complained as Jun spotted another person fall down a few meters away from her. "This is the first time the Wisps have attacked in broad daylight."

"After that stunt last night, I wouldn't be surprised if that woman who leads them decided to become more brazen," Jun reasoned while her patience grew thin in the wake of people falling down dead from bullet wounds that came from an invisible shooter. "Call me back when you find something."

Folding her cellphone and putting it back in her pocket, Jun saw another person fall down as soon as she reached the last victim. _Finally, it's leaving a trail of bodies for me to follow; _Jun thanked her luck and ran past the next victim in hopes of catching sight of the mystery Wisp. _Hopefully this will lead me somewhere._

To Jun's good fortune, it did happen to lead her somewhere: right into a thin beam of power that just missed her head and struck a mannequin in a store behind her. Turning to left, the brave woman found her quarry: a figure wearing a black trenchcoat and dark blue leather pants. His shirtless abdomen was adorned with a golden bandolier, and his face was masked with a red scarf and a pair of dark green goggles. _My enemy uses a gun to strike down his victims, _Jun throught angrily as the Rifleman arrogantly dusted off his toned blue abs and brushed back his purple hair tied back in a ponytail before aiming his bayonet-tipped rifle at Jun once again. _How cowardly!_

Using her extensive martial arts training to weave through the bolts of ki that were fired at her, Jun managed to get within inches of the Wisp before grabbing onto his rifle and pulling it away long enough for her to throw a punch in his direction. Before the punch could make contact, however, both the Rifleman and his weapon vanished in a puff of smoke only to reappear behind Jun a split second later and narrowly miss her ear.

_That must be how he was able to shoot from everywhere in the mall, _Jun muttered as she swatted away the next bolt with a swift chop. _That's going to be a very difficult power to overcome. _Once again weaving past the bolts of ki, Jun returned within striking range and connected with a swift knee to the stomach. The Rifleman buckled in pain and countered with a horizontal swipe of his blade-tipped rifle that Jun easily dodged. When she tried to send him sprawling with a hard palm thrust, the Rifleman teleported away and struck her from behind with the back of his weapon.

Stunned from the attack, Jun was left open for the Rifleman's vertical strike that knocked her into the air and allowed the Wisp to keep her afloat on a stream of low-yield bolts of energy. After a few seconds of such tomfoolery, the Rifleman jumped up into the air just as Jun started to come down and slammed her head into the ground with his free hand. _His hubris is his weakness, _she thought through the throbbing pain in her abdomen where the hail of ki bullets hit her. _He could have pierced me easily, but instead he had to show off. _

Unfortunately for Jun, the Rifleman stomped on her neck and kicked her over so that she was on her back so that he could aim his rifle right at her head. Quickly sitting up, Jun avoided a fatal shot to the head and let out a sigh of relief before standing back up and striking the Rifleman in the face with a standing elbow. Stunned from the attack, the Rifleman was left open to a snapping jump kick that was immediately followed by a swiping elbow that sent him flying through the air.

In mid-flight, the Rifleman once again teleported behind Jun and fired off another bolt that barely missed her arm. Quickly turning around with a spinning backhanded fist, Jun missed the Wisp thanks to him teleporting away again and was left open to a low blast that grazed her leg and caused her to kneel down with a cry of pain.

As she tended to her leg, the Rifleman suddenly began teleporting again and again, making a field of smoke around Jun as if she were in the eye of a hurricane. _I can feel him charging his ki: he's going to shoot from all directions, _Jun thought as she quickly tried to figure out what she could do to stop such a devastating attack. Unfortunately, the most she could do was close her eyes and hope that her accelerated healing factor would hold up against the stream of ki bullets that would rain down on her.

Thankfully, Jun would not have to do that, as the Rifleman was suddenly knocked out of his groove by a flying foot to the face. Opening her eyes, Jun looked and saw a thankfully familiar figure landing on the ground after performing a high jump kick. "You came just in time, Chaolan," Jun said as she let her healing factor handle her leg wound and stood back up while Lee ran to her side. "He doesn't like attacking up close: keep that in mind."

"There's no way he can focus on both of us," Lee assured Jun as the Rifleman slowly regained his footing and gently cracked his neck. "I'll go left, and you go right: how does that sound?"

Rather than answering with words, Jun decided to go left and leaving Lee to run to the right in order to surround the Rifleman from both sides. Unable to cope with such a predicament, the Rifleman teleported behind Lee as soon as the two martial artists tried to approach him. Before he could fire off a round into Lee's head, however, the silver-haired playboy spun around and kicked the Rifleman into the window of a toy store behind him. Bouncing off of the stiff glass like a basketball hitting the backboard, the Wisp ricocheted right into a high kick to the jaw immediately followed by a shin strike that drove his head into the ground.

After grinding the heel of his boot into the Rifleman's head for a few seconds, Lee lost track of the Rifleman as the Wisp teleported a few feet away and hastily aimed his firearm at Lee's head. Before a shot could be fired, he felt a pair of hands grab onto his shoulders and pull him down to the ground. Teleporting once again to attack to the new enemy from behind, the Rifleman was shocked to see that the attacker was not in front of him.

Instead, the next blow came from his left and sent him screeching across the floor and forcing him to drop his rifle, which immediately dissipated in a flash of blue fire. "I have figured out your pattern, butcher," Jun said as she focused all of her ki in her left leg and prepared to strike down the Rifleman with her most devastating. "Without it, you are as helpless as the victims you prey upon."

After being struck in the jaw with Jun's Spinning Heel Drop, the Rifleman slowly stumbled backwards as blue smoke from his body and began to eat away at his being. Unlike some of his late companions, however, the gunner did not make a sound as his end came closer. Instead, he stuck out a closed fist in Jun's direction, twisted his wrist so that it was facing upwards, and lifted his middle finger just before the smoke completely consumed his body and his dissipated with a hiss.

Letting out a deep sigh of relief, Jun walked over to Lee with a slight limp thanks to being shot in one of her legs while reassessing what had just happened. _This Wisp had a clear advantage with his teleportation abilities, and yet I was able to defeat him considerably quicker than the last two I faced. _Allowing herself a thin smile at such an accomplishment as she finally walked over to Lee. _Maybe this debacle is making me stronger both in body and in spirit._

Before either Lee or Jun could say anything to each other, Jun felt a familiar buzz in her pocket and immediately took her phone out and flipped it open to greet the mystery caller. What she heard was a familiar voice congratulating her on her victory.

"You defeated that sniper very quickly: my organization is pleased with your success."

"Yes, but people are still dead, Mr. Raven," Jun replied as Lee listened in on her conversation curiously. "This is why I want to involve as few people as possible: I'm sure it was no coincidence that the Wisp attacked while I was in the building. If there are as few holders of the shards as possible, then the attacks will be contained."

"I have come to that conclusion, as well," the ninja responded while Jun started to walk away from the scene of battle. "I will tell my superiors not to worry about the Wisp crisis for the time being. I will get in touch with you again if the time comes."

--

"So the Rifleman Wisp was taken down in a little over a minute," Nagalya muttered as she watched Lee and Jun exit the mall and enter the sea of policemen that surrounded it, observing the scene while standing on the top floor of the parking deck. "And to think that I actually bought all of his boasting."

Straightening out her fedora, the pale-skinned female turned away from the ledge of the parking deck and began walking down to the bottom level. She was masking her ki, so she didn't have to worry about any unexpected confrontations from anyone of importance…although she wouldn't have minded too much if she ran into her two greatest enemies.

_Lee Chaolan: the day will soon come where I will make you my willing servant, _she thought while she walked towards the elevator and pressed the "down" button. _However, first I'm going to have to make you and Kazama submit and realize that the Wisps are the future…and so is our illustrious deity._

_However, it would seem that the Wisps that are brave enough to volunteer are not enough to defeat them, _Nagalya muttered while she straightened her trenchcoat and entered the opening elevator shaft. Watching the doors close in on her, Nagalya allowed herself a smile form on her white lips. _I guess I'll just have to use a new class of warriors…and I know just who to call upon first._


	8. Samurai

As a key part of the Mishima Zaibatsu, Mishima Heavy Industries is one of the most coveted industrial organizations in the wor

As a key part of the Mishima Zaibatsu, Mishima Heavy Industries is one of the most coveted industrial organizations in the world. Creating everything from small electrical appliances to cutting edge weapons, some people say that it is the true power behind the wide sphere of influence the Zaibatsu encompasses. With the dozens of military forces that use their technology and the hundreds of stores that carried their commercial goods, such a claim was hard to argue.

On a pleasant Saturday afternoon, Jun and Lee went to the Heavy Industries' main research and development lab in Shibuya to use their advanced equipment to analyze the properties of the shards that had been so crucial in the war against the Wisps. Thanks to the Rifleman Wisp's attack on the mall the day before, any hopes that Jun had about having a local jeweler identifying the shards went up in smoke. The only knowledge she had about the shards now came from what Raven had told her.

_Unfortunately, that's not too much to go by, _Jun thought as she and Lee navigated their way through the forest of machines on their way towards the main lab. _While I don't think Raven's employers would go through all the trouble to tell me such information just to throw me off course, all they had to offer me were theories and hunches. What I need is a hard fact I can work with: something that I can rely on in the heat of battle._

Jun was not foolish enough to think that simply knowing the chemical makeup of the shards would reveal all of their secrets: the equipment in the Mishima Heavy Industries also had the ability to analyze the more intangible aspects of such materials such as ki signatures and psychic vibrations.

When Heihachi Mishima made it his ambition to create a perfect lifeform upon discovering the creature Toshin, the rest of his Zaibatsu followed his ambition and adapted accordingly by fusing modern science with spiritual ones that came from ages past. If Heihachi had succeeded in his ambition to capture Toshin (and a holder of the Devil Gene, which he later discovered was necessary), he would have had the resources available to analyze both the genetic makeup and the supernatural abilities the creature would have had.

Heihachi had since abandoned such daring ambitions, but the equipment that would have enabled him to unlock all of Toshin's secrets was still active and ready in case the leader of the Zaibatsu wished to pursue another such creature. If something like Toshin and Devil could be analyzed with a device like that, then a shard of talking metal shouldn't be too much of a problem.

After finally reaching the lab, Jun was greeted by a young Caucasian man with thick glasses and a white lab coat. "You must be Jun Kazama: I have heard so much about you," he said as he took Jun's right hand and vigorously shook it with great enthusiasm. "My name is Jim Hopkins: I have been following the King of Iron Fist Tournament since I was four years old, and to finally meet the famous Jun Kazama is an honor that I can't describe."

"I am glad to meet you, Mr. Hopkins: having a fan of my work is always appreciated," Jun said with a smile as she looked behind her and nodded to Lee. "I'm sure you have heard of Lee Chaolan, as well."

With a type of gasp that usually only reserved for rabid fans of teen idols, the man called Jim Hopkins quickly forgot about Jun Kazama and gave Lee Chaolan the same handshake he gave Jun. "I have always wanted to meet you, Mr. Chaolan! The rebel of the Mishima clan: what a great honor this is!"

"Well, I am a free-spirited dragon, after all," Lee said while beaming with pride. "I suppose being a rebel is part of the job description, along with being better than everyone else." After that moment of self-promotion, Lee came back down to earth and asked a more serious question. "So, where is this super-psychic mega-machine that I have heard about?"

"Right this way, ladies and gentlemen," Jim turned around with a huge smile across his face before happily marching through a sea of computers and microscopes with Jun and Lee following closely behind him. After a few seconds of traveling, Jim stopped at a large computer terminal and pressed a few buttons on the keyboard to reveal a slot that slid out from the side of the terminal. "This is what you are probably looking for."

"Are you kidding me? It looks like a plain old desktop computer to me," Lee blurted out, not quite believing that the coveted machine that would have stripped Ogre of its secrets was such a puny-looking piece of machinery.

"Before you judge by appearances, non-believer," Jim answered with far too much enthusiasm given the seriousness of the work. "Give me what you want to analyze, and watch it work its magic!" After Lee handed him one of the four shards he had hidden in his pocket, the young scientist placed the blue metal on the slot and closed it. He then rapidly typed something on the neighboring keyboard and a mess of numbers and letters appeared on the screen. "It will take me a couple of hours to analyze this: in the meantime, feel free to look around and witness Mishima Heavy Industries at work!"

"Actually, I was wondering if I could take a look at some of your experimental Tekkenshu armors," Lee suddenly spoke up with a look of longing in his eyes. "I've always found the sleek design and overall sturdiness of the materials fascinating, and I would love to take a look at the next generation of such artistic apparel…"

"Yes, I have to admit the Tekkenshu armor is a work of fine art comparable to the works of Da Vinci," Jim commented with a wide smile before pointing behind Lee. "Go out the door and pass over six rows of machinery. At the seventh row, go left and the door to the testing room should be the third one on the right."

After mouthing a quiet thank you, Lee turned around and left the lab in order to seek out what he was looking for, leaving Jun to answer the several questions that her fan Jim Hopkins had to ask her. _I suppose there is no harm in appealing to a fan, _Jun thought with a smile as she saw down at a nearby chair and listened to the young scientist's ramblings. _Of course, I'll have to make sure he doesn't ask anything too personal…_

_--_

Upon finding the room that Mr. Hopkins described, Lee went through the door and stared in wonder at what he saw: rows and rows of Tekkenshu armor sets neatly assembled with corresponding guns and knives strewn about on the tables waiting to be matched with the suits. As much as he had hated Heihachi for the humiliated he made him endure at the conclusion of the second King of Iron Fist Tournament, he did appreciate his forming of the Tekkenshu and the suits they wore.

_It's like I'm in a candy store, and the lollipops are battle suits with the jelly beans being bullets, _Lee thought happily as he picked out a newer Tekkenshu suit: a full-body armor that was silver and violet in color. After a good minute of struggling to fit into the suit, Lee turned to a nearby reflective surface and posed stylishly to boost his ego. _The power, the sleekness, and the overall sense of importance: Lee Chaolan, you are, as always, stylish as ever!_

After a few minutes of posing, laughing and performing a few martial arts techniques, Lee came back down to earth and realized that he was the only one in the room: something that should not have been due to the vast importance of the suits. _Where is everyone, _Lee muttered before taking off his helmet and scanning his surroundings. _Do they have a late lunch break or something?_

CLICK!

Quickly turning around at the unknown sound, Lee looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Despite this, however, he knew that something was amiss. _I better get out of here and find Jun: suddenly this place is becoming creepy, _he mumbled as he headed to the door. When he tried to turn the door, however, Lee was surprised to see that he had been locked in. _What the hell is this!?_

"_I was hoping you would be alone…"_

Lee's eyes widened and his heart raced as he recognized the alluring female voice that echoed in his head. "Oh…hello there…Nagalya," Lee managed to spit out as his mind became filled with excitement and fear. "I don't suppose you locked me in this room so you could come out and have hot, torrid sex with me? If you did, then I would prefer romancing you elsewhere: making love on the floor of an industrial complex isn't quite my cup of tea…"

"Sadly, I'm not much for daytime frolicking: perhaps I'll come to you when you're in your coma."

"That's not very romantic, madam," Lee said as he tried desperately to keep himself from panicking. "Why don't you give up your homicidal ways and enjoy living life…particularly living life with me?" With a charming smile creeping up on his face, Lee continued his offer. "If you do, I promise you will never, ever be unhappy again. Does that sound like it would please you?"

"_My my, I found myself a real keeper," _Nagalya's voice replied, causing Lee to let out a sigh of relief. _"Here I just wanted a one night stand, and you're letting it all hang out. Unfortunately, I can't oblige: business before pleasure, after all."_

With that rejection, blue smoke began to pour from the grates of the air ducts in the room, causing Lee to start panicking once again. He already knew what was coming, but he wasn't sure he could fight in such a contained room. _It's going to be a problem, but I guess the most I can do is try to manage! _Lee quickly assumed high fighting stance and waited for the enemy to materialize. "Come on! Lee Chaolan is ready for you!"

When the smoke cleared and revealed Lee's next opponent, the silver-haired playboy's eyes widened even more when he felt the energy that the figure gave off. _He's not like the other ones…this guy is a contender! _

The figure was covered in dark red samurai armor from head to toe, wearing a helmet with a light blue crescent on the forehead with a black mask covering the equally blue face. He was a little over six feet tall, letting out a small puff of blue smoke every time he exhaled. "At least you're not another bruiser," Lee managed to say before charging at the Samurai. "However, you'll be going down just the same!"

However, Lee's foot bounced right off of the Samurai's thick armor and he bounced off of him like a ball. Crashing into a row of suits, Lee quickly scrambled back onto his feet while the Samurai slowly walked towards him. _Hey, maybe he can't move around very well in that armor, _the silver-haired playboy thought with a smile. _Once again, I'll have a speed advantage. God, I love being me!_

Jumping over the Samurai Wisp with an impressive leap, Lee kicked the Samurai from behind in an attempt to send him flying into the table full of weapons. However, the Samurai did not budge: it was as if he didn't even feel the kick at all! Instead, it was Lee who got the worst of the maneuver, hurting his foot and causing him to grip his ankle in pain.

"_Scrumptious, let me introduce you to the Samurai Wisp," _Nagalya's voice said while Lee hopped away from the Samurai as he inched ever-so-closer to him. _"See, when he was still alive, he was cast out by his lord for siding with a political rival, just as you were exiled from the Zaibatsu. Unlike you, however, this warrior committed seppuku." _

"That's very nice to hear," Lee shouted out as he rolled away from the Samurai's attempted grapple and tried attacking the knees of the warrior to no avail. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I just figured you might want to know more about your enemy, since right now you're not having much luck," her voice answered playfully as the Samurai suddenly stopped pursuing Lee and staggered as if he were about to sneeze. "By the way, I hope you have good mental training, because you're about to go on a serious trip!"

As soon as Nagalya's voice became silent, a stream of navy blue steam erupted from the openings in the Samurai's mask and drowned Lee in a sea of fumes. Coughing and gagging, the silver-haired playboy's pupils dilated and he began to sweat profusely from all of his orifices. It's some kind of gas, and I took a lungful of it, Lee thought as his vision became blurry. This is not good!

The Samurai pulled out a long spiked rod from the hilt at his hip and suddenly lashed out at Lee with incredible agility to send him flying onto the table of weapons and scattering them like a deadly batch of marbles. Pinning Lee onto the table by his throat using his free hand, the Samurai brought his weapon down on Lee's body again and again, faster and faster until the Tekkenshu armor began to crack. Whatever slowness the Wisp had displayed earlier, had disappeared the moment he drowned Lee in a sea of fog.

Oh my God…I'm being slaughtered like an animal, Lee thought frantically as he tried to roll off the table only for the Samurai to hold him into place and continue raining down blows upon him. I have to do something: I have to get out of here! If I don't do something now, I'm going to die! However, the smoke had taken its toll on Lee's mind: his reflexes had been slowed to a crawl, and thus he could not use his otherwise extraordinary athleticism to get out the predicament.

After a good two minutes of savagery, the Samurai ceased his attack and let Lee writhe in pain and agony. Somehow, the Samurai had not broken anything serious, but the trauma of being left dazed in the wake of such an inhuman flogging was enough to render Lee completely helpless and beside himself. I-it must be the gas: it's affecting my thinking and my movements; the silver-haired playboy stared into the florescent bulb-laden ceiling while gripping his injured ribs. It's like I was plunged into the depths of Hell…

In the colorful haze that had become his vision thanks to the fog, Lee turned his head and saw that the Samurai was beginning to walk away. I can't let him get away: he's going to annihilate everyone here if I do. Reaching out to grab the ankle of the warrior, Lee's bravery was rewarded with another savage strike to his ribs that caused him to let go and cry out in pain. The Samurai, now hearing his mistress call out to him, walked through the locked door like the specter he was and left Lee to his agony.

I…should be thankful the armor held up: otherwise I think I might have been bound to a wheelchair for the rest of my life, Lee thought with a grim smile as he tried to get back up. When he tried to push himself off the ground, however, his vision became hazy and his ears were filled were nonexistent noises that disoriented him enough to fall back down to the ground. Still, that doesn't change the fact that the great Lee Chaolan got his butt whipped. What the hell has happened to me?

After what seemed like hours, but was in truth only minutes, Lee heard the sound of the door unlocking and he resumed panicking. It's probably that trenchcoat woman Nagalya, coming to finish me off. Lee once again tried to will his battered body into motion, despite the blue fog still clouding the room and affecting his mind. I can't go down like this…at least not before I take her to bed!

To Lee's surprise, however, the figure that came through the door grabbed onto his arms and dragged him out of the testing room and back into the main hall where fresher air filled his lungs. Although his senses were still filthy from the Wisp's taint, the overall tone of the voice that called out to him was enough to get him angry.

"You are still of use to me. Consider this early payment for a later favor."

That…bastard, Lee thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off into unconsciousness while he listened to the man's footsteps become quieter as he moved away from him. He's always belittling me…

--

"So you mean to tell me that you were actually part of a massive G-Corporation experiment? That is so cool!"

"It wasn't particularly 'cool' when there was no consent in the matter," Jun answered with a hint of disdain as she continued to be interviewed by the bright-eyed Jim Hopkins. "Of course, Mishima Heavy Industries also has a history of unethical experiments behind it. I'm sure you have heard of the animal experimentation that it once supported."

"We experimented on animals? That's pretty deep," the young man said with a look of fascination in his eyes. "I should probably have read more about the Zaibatsu's history: I must seem like a total space case to you!"

"Perhaps, but knowing is half the battle," Jun replied with a polite smile before turning to the computer next to her and looking at the mess of numbers and letters strewn across its monitor. "When the results are complete, how long do you think it will take to describe all of its properties?"

"A couple of minutes…ten minutes, at the most."

"That's reassuring to know: I am hoping to be home in time for my usual daily training session and-" Jun paused when she noticed that the young scientist had suddenly ceased moving. Reaching out to touch him, the former detective noticed that he seemed frozen in place: a phenomenon that Lee had described to her earlier.

_She's here, in this building, _Jun thought as she felt the shard in her pocket pulsate, warning her of the Wisp leader's presence. _She chose a fine place for a fight: I can't use the full extent of my abilities with so much precious equipment surrounding me. Hopefully Chaolan will come back soon…_

In a move that almost caused Jun to jump out of her skin, the scientist called Jim Hopkins suddenly stood up and grabbed onto the former detective in a harsh manner. "What are you doing?" Jun blurted out as she struck him in the side of the head in an attempt to get him to release her. "What has gotten into you!?"

However, Jun answered her own question when she used her psychic abilities to peek into his mind: she could sense nothing, as if it had been emptied like a trash can. _It must be some sort of hypnosis, _she mumbled as she struck the scientist in the head once again and forced him to relinquish her hold and fall to the ground unconscious. _Lee mentioned something like that, as well: what a cruel woman, invading another person's being like that!_

Jun's train of thought was broken almost immediately after Jim hit the floor by the touch of several more hands. Grabbing onto both hands, Jun pulled the two interlopers downwards and twisted their wrists expecting cry of pain. However, all she saw in their faces were two blank stares: they were merely other scientists under the control of the hypnotic spell that had overtaken the room.

A significantly larger scientist grabbed onto Jun from behind and tried to put her in a sleeper hold, threatening to strangle the life out of her. With all of her might, Jun thrusted her elbow into the stomach of the scientist that caused blood to drip from his mouth. However, he refused to relinquish his hold and managed to get Jun down on her knees before finally letting go and grabbing onto her arms to hold her still.

_Another reason why I can't fight to the best of my abilities is that these are innocent people, _Jun thought bitterly as she tried to break free without seriously injuring her captor. _If I attacked one of them with even half of my power, I would send them to the hospital in agony. What a predicament I've found myself in!_

"Having trouble, dear?"

Jun's eyes narrowed underneath her sunglasses as she looked up and saw a familiar figure in a trenchcoat and fedora. Taking off the fedora and mockingly placing it on Jun's head, the female known as Nagalya got down on her knees and put a finger underneath Jun's chin. "It must be embarrassing, being overpowered by people that you know you could incapacitate in an instant."

"You are truly a fiend, Miss Nagalya," Jun managed to say in the wake of her vision suddenly becoming hazy and her body sweating from every pore. "Perhaps once I defeat you, I can work on rehabilitating you. I am sure that several young men would find someone of your vigor fetching."

"That's very sweet of you to say that, dear, but I like being bad," Nagalya replied with a smile before standing back up and pointing out a large armored figure that had just walked up next to her. "By now you are probably having trouble thinking correctly, and your body is being coated with a layer of sweat. This is because the Samurai Wisp here has filled this area with his special brand of hypnotic fog. Our mutual dear Lee Chaolan took a lungful of it and right now he's trying to keep his mind from rotting like an apple."

With a nod of Nagalya's head, the big scientist that was holding Jun down grabbed onto the back of her hair and forced her to stand back up. "Now, I told you I would think of something special for the cut you gave me earlier," the pale-skinned woman said as she pointed out the fading scar on her cheek. "Well, I think humiliating you like this is going to be ample punishment enough: let's get started, shall we?"

WHAM!

Jun crumbled down to the floor in the wake of an unknown blunt object striking her in the back. _It's some kind of spiked weapon, like a thorny bat, _Jun deduced from the sharp pain she was feeling, though she could not turn around and see who was attacking her. _It's not a weapon for killing, but a weapon for torture._

WHAM!

"My Samurai Wisp seems to have volunteered in dishing out your humiliation," Nagalya said as she licked her lips and wrapped her fingers around Jun's chin while the former detective gasped for air. "However, I am not entirely without mercy. All you have to do is admit that I am your better, and I will end the torture and finish what I came to do here."

WHAM!

"I…have been through worse torture than this, Nagalya," Jun replied with a grim smile as she looked up at Nagalya with defiance in her eyes. "If you are trying to break me, you will have to do better than that."

Complying with Jun's challenge, Nagalya suddenly reached out for Jun's neck and grabbed onto her throat, squeezing as hard as she could while the blows continued to rain down upon her. "Having a senses overload, dear!?" Nagalya shouted out with frustration as Jun grit her teeth to keep herself from screaming. "You sure know how to rile someone up, huh!?"

Letting go of Jun's neck after a few seconds, Nagalya watched as Jun took deep concentrated breaths in the wake of the mental toxin that she had been poisoned with while the Samurai Wisp continued to rhythmically rain down strikes on her back. _I'm bleeding, and my mind is starting to give way to this insanity, _Jun thought as she tried to stand back up and counterattack. _I have to do something soon, or else I'm going to go mad!_

WHAM!

Jun fell down flat on her face in the wake of the Samurai's attack, but was soon forced back onto her feet by Nagalya grabbing onto the back of her hair. "You look so beautiful with your face draped with frustration," the pale-skinned woman said as before kissing Jun's sweat-laden forehead and pushing her back onto her knees. "Don't forgot: all you have to do is say those magic words."

_This is unbearable, _Jun growled. _I have to strike out now, before I'm too helpless to aid anyone. _Charging her ki, Jun prepared to lash out at the Samurai, Nagalya, and the scientists with all of her genetically enhanced strength. _Everyone…please forgive me!_

"DORYA!"

Before Jun could lash out at her attackers, a familiar battle cry entered Jun's ears and forced her to turn her head in the sound's direction. Her vision was still blurry, but the sound of blows raining down upon human bodies was enough to know that whoever had come in here had begun by attacking the scientists. Within seconds, all of the workers under the spell of the Samurai Wisp had fallen in a pool of their own blood.

"Well, it looks like we have a new challenger," Nagalya said while the Samurai kicked Jun in the buttocks towards the newcomer. "What is your name, handsome?"

Struggling to her feet, Jun felt a pair of gloved hands wrap around her and help her back onto her feet. "I figured you would have been able to handle these buffoons by yourself, Jun," the stern voice said as Jun sat back down on a chair to catch her breath. "All you had to do was toss aside your silly conscience, and victory would have been yours for sure."

"Sadly…I'm not quite as ruthless as you are…" Jun said between breaths before looking up to the figure with her vision clearing up enough to see a medium-built man in a light blue knit shirt, a pair of dark blue khakis, and dark gray hair standing up on end where it formed a point. "I still have not given up on my code of ethics…Kazuya!"


	9. Savior

Minutes ago, Nagalya had orchestrated another plan to eliminate the threats posed by Jun Kazama and Lee Chaolan by introducing the most potent Wisp yet: the Samurai. Using his hypnotic fumes and deceptive quickness, the Samurai made his mark on everyone within the Mishima Heavy Industries main Tokyo facility by placing all of the employees under his spell and leaving Lee Chaolan battered and helpless.

With the silver-haired playboy out of the way, Nagalya and the Samurai Wisp turned their attention to Jun, subjugating her by using her code of morals and ethics against her and have the Zaibatsu scientists restrain her while the two fiends made it a point to humiliate her. Just when it seemed that Jun would have to break her moral code in order to save herself, however, an unlikely savior arrived and came to her rescue.

"I figured you would have been able to handle these buffoons by yourself, Jun," the man said to Jun before helping her onto her feet and leading her to a nearby chair to sit down at. "All you had to do was toss aside your silly conscience and victory would have been yours for sure."

"Sadly, I'm not quite as ruthless as you are," Jun replied between long breaths before looking up to her savior and allowing herself a gratifying smile. "I still have not given up on my code of ethics, Kazuya!"

"'Kazuya?'" Nagalya repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Does that mean that you are the one and only Kazuya Mishima, the Cold-Blooded Prince who wrapped this city in a cloak of terror only a couple of months ago? My my, this is a surprise!"

"I suppose I should be honored to witness a fan of my work," Kazuya replied with a smirk as he assumed his fighting stance while the Samurai Wisp walked past Nagalya and prepared to dispatch the interloper. "However, I should make it clear that I do not tolerate plagiarism, and your operations seem to closely mimic my own."

"Don't confuse the Wisps with the b-movie rejects that you created," Nagalya said with a hint of resentment. "It'll take more than a bunch of glorified stuntmen to defeat one, and unless you have one of the shards on you, you don't stand a chance!" With that statement fresh in her mind, Nagalya nodded to her Wisp associate and pointed her index finger in Kazuya direction. "Your Devil-ridden soul will make quite an asset to our god's resurrection. Get him, Samurai!"

With a nod of its head, the Samurai burst into action and came at Kazuya with inhuman speed and struck Kazuya on the forehead. The impact of such an attack would have incapacitated an ordinary human, but Kazuya was far from an ordinary man. In fact, he stood in place for the entire attack and smiled as blood trickled down from his forehead and onto his eyebrows.

"Impressive: not everyone can cause me to bleed," Kazuya said as his smirk became an evil grin and his left eye glowed a fiery red. "Unfortunately, it will take a lot more than brute strength and sharp weapons to defeat me!" Reaching for the Samurai's rod to snatch it away from him, Kazuya's grin disappeared quickly in the wake of the fact that his hand went right through the weapon despite how he could still feel the weapon on his forehead. "What manner of trickery is this?"

"It's like I said: it doesn't matter how powerful you are," Nagalya answered tauntingly while the Samurai removed his rod from Kazuya's forehead and plunged the end of it into Kazuya's stomach before knocking him away with a vertical swing. "If you don't come to the party with the right kind of accessories, then you won't be able to dance correctly!"

Kazuya landed on his hands and flipped back onto his feet just in time to duck under a horizontal swipe and roll away from the quick downwards attack that followed. "Jun, what are these shards that this harlot refers to?" Kazuya quickly asked Jun as he returned to her side while the Samurai pulled his weapon from the crack in the ground he formed.

"L-look in the slot at the computer terminal over there," Jun managed to gasp out as the gas she tried her best not to completely lose her mind in the wake of the gas she had inhaled thanks to the Samurai Wisp. "I came here today to analyze it: it should still be in there…"

Not bothering to take the crucial second needed to say "thank you," Kazuya quickly opened the slot of the computer terminal Jun had referred to and reached out to pick up the blue metal shard that was within. When he touched it however, Kazuya grit his teeth in agony as his entire body became engulfed in teal electricity. After a few seconds of struggling, the Cold-Blooded Prince let go of the shard and gripped his hand in pain.

Nagalya, who had watched the scene unfold, let loose a loud and mocking laughter at the display of futility. "This is too much: here you come trying to save the day, and you can't even touch the only weapon that can possibly stand up to the people you're trying to take out," the pale-skinned woman managed to sputter out in between laughs. "Surely the irony of this doesn't escape you: the shard is even more poisonous to you than it is to us!"

"I have heard rumors of metals such as these," Kazuya said out loud as he looked down at the shard with curiosity. "There were even reports of Heihachi planning to use something like this to nullify my powers. Interesting indeed…"

To Nagalya's surprise, Kazuya reached down and tried to pick up the shard again with more electricity shooting out of the object as a result. "What do you think you're doing, idiot? If you couldn't touch it a moment ago, what makes you think you could go for it now?"

However, Kazuya did not recoil from the powerful surge of energy that flowed from the shard. In fact, this time he was able to pick it up off the ground and wrap his hand around it, even though the discharge continued to attack him. "If you were dealing with a lesser person, then maybe you would have kept your advantage of intangibility," Kazuya stated through a face wracked with pain and anger. "However, I am not a lesser person. I am Kazuya Mishima, and you are scum that is about to wiped off the sole of my shoe!"

With his body crackling with power not his own, Kazuya charged at the Samurai Wisp that had waited patiently for him to stop stalling and punched him in the stomach with all of his inhuman might. The Samurai responded accordingly by using his free hand to grab onto Kazuya's neck and slam him into the floor after lifting him into the air. With Kazuya ground, the Samurai lifted his weapon and brought his weapon down on the gray-haired man's back.

To Kazuya's credit, the numbing pain he was already in thanks to the shard in his closed fist was enough to make the blow seem like a minor itch and he stood back up with no ill effects from the attack. Gritting his teeth as he used the endurance granted to him through intensive physical therapy and training, Kazuya punched the Samurai right in the face and caused him to take a couple of steps back from the stunning attack.

_"Devils fighting devils only leads to chaos…"_

_At least now I know why the leader of G-Corporation said not to involve someone with the Devil Gene, _Jun thought while she watched Kazuya fight on her behalf despite the obvious agony he was being put through thanks to the shard. _If someone with that power tries to touch the shard, the shard attacks him mercilessly. The shard must possess some sort of power that negates an evil power like that, much like the power of the Kazamas._

_However, I need to have faith in Kazuya: he is not the same Devil-ridden soul that he used to be, _Jun smiled as Kazuya countered the Samurai's forward kick with a low foot sweep that was immediately followed by a powerful hook punch that sent the warrior spiraling to the ground. _He has trained hard to overcome any weaknesses that being possessed by a demon would bring, by embracing the good inside of him and using it as a weapon. That kind of resolve is something that no shard or demon can break!_

Even though Kazuya's resolve was not brittle, that didn't stop the Samurai Wisp from trying to break a more physical aspect of Kazuya like his skull. After successfully connecting with a second forward kick, the Samurai immediately followed with a strike to the top of Kazuya's head, forcing the Japanese martial artist to back away and use his free hand to rub where he had been struck.

Weaving to his right to avoid another vertical attack, Kazuya knocked the Samurai into the air with a quick standing uppercut: a textbook Wind Godfist that had become such a crucial part of Kazuya's offense over the years. With his opponent airborne, Kazuya pressed onward with a snapping kick, a quick jab, and an impaling knee to keep the Samurai from hitting the ground before sending him spiraling away with a standing roundhouse kick.

The Samurai recovered almost instantly after hitting the ground and returned the favor by knocking Kazuya almost to the ceiling with a two-handed upwards swing of his rod, and jumped up after him using amazing leg strength to propel him further upwards with a rising strike before bashing him towards the floor with a final downwards smash.

Kazuya landed on his feet and quickly jumped backwards as the Samurai returned back down to Earth and attempted to smash the Devil-ridden warrior's head in with a falling slash of his rod. Seeing an opportunity to attack, Kazuya ran at the Samurai with his fist raised in preparation for one of his more devastating attacks. Unfortunately, the Samurai recovered quicker than Kazuya would have liked and used Kazuya's forward momentum to pick him up off the ground with the pointed end of his rod in the gray-haired warrior's stomach and slam him back onto the ground like a throw rug.

"Dammit," Kazuya growled as he gripped his stomach. "Even if I can overcome the protective barrier that this shard of holy metal gives off, it's keeping me from using the full extent of my powers." Even though the sinister martial artist knew no one was listening to him, talking to himself was a habit that he had not yet broken. Of course, no one dared to tell him that doing such a thing was considered a sign of insanity, so he never addressed the problem thoroughly. "I wonder if any of weakened attacks are affecting him."

"What's the matter, tough guy? Are you feeling tired," Nagalya asked with her voice full of mocking contempt. "Maybe handling that shard is too much for you, after all. You may talk a big game, but when it comes time to put your money where your mouth is all you can do is choke on your words!"

"You have no room to talk, harlot," Kazuya spat back as he crawled back onto his feet just in time to punch the Samurai right in the facemask. "All you've been doing is standing around and gloating while your lackey does all the work. How about you lead by example and face a true master."

"This, coming from someone who hid in the shadows for a month before getting his butt kicked by one of his own creations," Nagalya rolled her eyes at Kazuya's response and shook her head. "Before then, you hid yourself from the world like a scared child for nearly twenty years. If you're going to talk down to me, at least try and back it up with your own examples."

"…you seem to know an awful lot about me, harlot," Kazuya said after a pause due to the Samurai Wisp trying to knock his head off like a batter hitting a t-ball: an attempt which he ducked accordingly. "Have we met somewhere before?"

"You could say that I did my homework on you, Kazuya," Nagalya answered with a shrug before her facial expression became more serious. "I'd go more in-depth as to our relationship, but I don't want to distract you from getting your skull cracked open like an eggshell!"

Distracted by talking to the pale-skinned villainess and trying to keep the shard in his hand from knocking him unconscious with static discharge, Kazuya was left vulnerable to the Samurai Wisp's next attack: a choke sleeper that surprised the gray-haired martial artist enough to force him onto his knees and drop the ever-important shard needed to combat his adversary. Enough though Kazuya's mastery of the Devil Gene and natural Mishima toughness granted him a fairly high degree of resistance to pain, not even he could survive having the life strangled out of him.

_I have to help him, _Jun thought as she tried to get out of her seat, only to cry out in pain and fall onto the floor. _Unfortunately the fumes are still disorienting me, and the bruises on my back haven't completely healed yet. _Despite this, Jun instead opted on crawling towards the point of battle with unmatched bravery. _Kazuya…I swore that I would save you, and I'm not about to break my promise now!_

As Jun slowly willed her battered body into forward motion, Kazuya squirmed and writhed as he tried to break the chokehold applied to him by an enemy that he could no longer touch. "Isn't that sweet? You want to save the father of your children," Nagalya commented on Jun's tenacity before kneeling down and whispering in her ear. "I told you I was going to humiliate you, but putting you in agony knowing that you could not save him is a pretty sweet deal, too…"

"WAI-YA!!"

With a piercing battle cry echoing throughout the large room, the Samurai's choking hold was broken in the wake of the sole of a flying foot crashing into the side of his head. Kazuya coughed and gasped as he picked up the shard once again and sent the Samurai flying away with a powerful mid-section punch. "I…was waiting for you, idiot," Kazuya growled as his armored savior ran up next to him while he got back onto his feet. "If I knew you were going to take this long, I wouldn't have wasted so much time."

"I was trying to keep from having my brain melt like a stick of butter, thank you very much," Lee spat back through the voice box in his Tekkenshu helmet that he was wearing. "Still, there was no way I was going to be indebted to a scumbag like you. Now we're even…"

"Do not forget that I was the one who helped your pathetic robot company when it was about to go up in flames," Kazuya replied with a smirk before wincing in pain from the crackling shard in his hand. "If you wish argue in futility, though, you may do it after I finish this fight."

Closing his eyes, Kazuya went off into a deep trance while Lee watched on in confusion. After what seemed like hours but was, in truth, only seconds, the Cold-Blooded Prince of the Mishima clan open his eyes and the shard's crackling died down while the pupil of his mutated left eye shone with a brilliant sapphire glare. "My name is Kazuya Mishima: my will is indomitable," Kazuya said to no one on particular he turned to Nagalya and slowly began walking towards her, "and my fist is untamable. Trifle with me at your own peril: I will be glad to usher you into an early grave!"

"Hey, I'm not your dance partner today, Mishima," Nagalya said as she stepped away from Jun as Kazuya slowly made his way towards her with the intent to cause her great bodily harm. "If you can take down my Wisp, then MAYBE I'll join in on the dance at another date and we can have some fun."

"Hmph…cowardly whore," Kazuya said with a scoff as he turned around to block the Samurai's attack with the metallic studs of his red gloves while Nagalya walked away from the battle site. "I will hold you to that challenge: keep a close watch as I demonstrate what your fate will be once I deal with this fool."

Having successfully parried the rod, Kazuya crouched down and rose back up to send the Samurai flying away with a devastating leaping uppercut: the Mishima-ryu's coveted Thunder Godfist technique. The Samurai landed flat on its back and let out a puff of smoke upon impact before standing back up and readying his weapon for another pass.

Grabbing onto the point of his weapon so that his hands were gripping both ends, the Samurai blocked a standing axe kick and countered with a swift knee to Kazuya's stomach immediately followed by a strike to the back of his neck using the hilt of the rod. With Kazuya downed from the attack, the Samurai lifted up his weapon and pounded onto his spine with rapid strikes.

After the eighth strike, Kazuya rolled away and let out a quick grunt as he stood back up and rubbed his back. "It must be nice, being a specter," Kazuya said as he moved his head to the side and avoided a quick thrust. "Since there's no need to breathe, your stamina is considerably higher. If I had employed you during my quest to take over Tokyo, things might have turned out differently."

Before the Samurai could return his rod to a neutral position, Kazuya plunged his fist into the Wisp's abdomen with such force that he actually lifted the warrior off the ground and gave him enough time to kick him while he was off his feet. This in turn gave Kazuya enough time to take a step forward and bring him back down to the ground with a Soul Thrust punch.

The Samurai once again landed on his feet, but he did not raise his rod to prepare for Kazuya's next attack. Instead, the Samurai lifted his free hand and fired off a dark bolt of energy, followed by several other bolts in an attempt to drown Kazuya in lethal rain. However, the Cold-Blooded Prince put his arms up in a guarding position and ran through the rain like a man fighting off a hailstorm. Once he was in position, Kazuya made the Samurai's new technique futile and sent him flying away with a jumping Slash kick.

Landing flat on hiss back, the Samurai struggled to get back onto his feet only to fall back down again in the wake of Kazuya's brutal axe kick, followed by a rapid series on stomps onto his chest. The Samurai tried to counter by blasting a surge of blue smog into Kazuya's face, but the seasoned veteran instinctly used his arm to keep his mouth and nose from inhaling the dehabilitating smoke and kicked the Samurai away like a goalie making a punt…

…causing the Samurai to roll right in Lee's direction, who had been waiting for the battle to come back to him. The Samurai blew more smoke in Lee's face, but the silver-haired playboy laughed it off with muffled glee. "Sorry, freak: this helmet I'm wearing filters out stuff like that," Lee said as he ground his heel into the Samurai's neck while tapping the side of his helmet. "You may have caught me off-guard before, but I never make the same mistake twice!"

After a few seconds of grinding, Lee grabbed onto the monster by his throat and helped him back onto his feet only to knock him away by ramming his knee into the Samurai's protected face. The impact of the attack was enough to create a small crack in the mask and cause the Samurai to reel back in pain. "Finally, now we're getting somewhere," Lee said before sending the Wisp back into Kazuya's direction with a Pulse Blast kick. "It looks like your armor isn't as impenetrable as I thought. You just have to keep on trying until you succeed at last!"

"Your observational commentary is quite annoying, Chaolan," Kazuya said as his body crackled with his natural electric blue ki. "When you find a weakness, try not announcing it to the world. All it does is tell your opponent to watch himself." Building rotational velocity, Kazuya ducked down low and spun towards the staggering Samurai like a top in preparation for his most lethal and devastating technique in his arsenal: the Lightning Screw Godfist.

After the third spin, Kazuya sprung up and shattered the Samurai's damaged mask with a powerful leaping uppercut to send him flying to where Jun was finally getting back onto her feet. The Samurai clutched his neck as if he were choking, dropping his coveted battle rod and rolling across the floor like he was on fire. After a few seconds of spasming, the Samurai ceased moving and dissipated in a fiery blue haze while his weapon did the same.

After taking several deep breaths and smiling at completing a battle well fought, Kazuya turned to the approaching Jun and scoffed. "Really, Jun, this was not an impossible battle even when you were in such a state. You could have interfered anytime you wished thanks to the abilities that I granted you…"

"I didn't want to spoil the moment, I suppose," Jun replied with a smile before putting a hand on Kazuya's shoulder. "I am grateful that you came to my aid, Kazuya: it was…sweet of you."

"I would prefer that you didn't use such weak terms to describe what I did," Kazuya pulled his shoulder away from Jun and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. "You are in my circle, and thus one of my allies. Whether or not I like it, I have little choice but to protect my allies until there comes a time when I do not need them anymore."

"What made you think that we needed your help, Kazuya," Lee said with contempt brimming in his voice while he took off his helmet. "In fact, I'm wondering how it is you came just when things were starting to get rough. If you were here from the start, we could have stopped wasting time and finished the Wisp business quickly."

"I did not know about the Wisp's movements until today, when I spotted you struggling against the buffoon in the armor while I was overseeing some of my more personal projects at Mishima Heavy Industries," Kazuya said with equal contempt, making the bad blood between the two brothers evident to Jun. "However, now that I am here, I will try and aid you the best I can."

"And why would you do that, Kazuya?" Lee asked while Kazuya put on his sunglasses. "You never were an altruist, and you probably never will be. Why put your life on the line for something you could care less about?"

"These Wisps are a mockery of what I set out to accomplish two months ago: their actions are inexcusable. I will not tolerate such blatant plagiarism of my accomplishments," Kazuya said before turning around to where Nagalya had stood when he last laid eyes on her only to see that she had left the premises. "Furthermore, that woman's aura is…oddly familiar. I do not know why, but I intend to find out."

With that explanation in mind, the three warriors walked away from the site of battle and began their their journey the exit of the facility, leaving the scientists that Kazuya had dispatched earlier to the ambulance that Jun was in the process of summoning. Even though the reason Kazuya gave had truth in it, there was more to his motives than simple pride.

It might have been because Jun and Lee were his two closest allies in his war against G-Corporation. It might have been the result of any feelings he might have had for Jun, the mother of his offspring. It might even have been some sort of brotherly companionship he shared with Lee.

But whatever the reason was, Kazuya cursed himself for thinking that way. The Cold-Blooded Prince should not have allowed himself to feel that way towards his allies: it was unbecoming of a man of his stature…


	10. Pride

In the two months that followed Kazuya Mishima's defeat at the hands of his son Jin Kazama and thus the unsuccessful conclusion of his bid to take over Tokyo, the Cold-Blooded Prince spent much of his time in seclusion training for the next King of Iron Fist Tournament, whenever it would be announced. Even though Kazuya knew that Jin was not exactly a lightweight, it did not change the fact that both his son and his father Heihachi had both defeated him consecutively.

Kazuya, a person of great physical prowess with an ego to match, had been given failure after failure to contemplate his losses and try to discover ways to rectify the mistakes he had made. After his latest defeat, he had hoped to go back to the basics and rediscover what he had lost on his path for vengeance to regain his pride as the most powerful of the Mishima clan, and by proxy the most powerful of all martial artists.

However, Kazuya was never one to completely put the past behind him. At the beginning of each week after his second loss to Jin, Kazuya visited the burned-out laboratory that had once been his hideout where he created monstrosities to attack the city with and cloak the civilians in a wave of terror. Even though he had destroyed the laboratory with his own hands, the Cold-Blooded Prince returned to its charred shell to remind him of his previous loss so that he would not make the same mistake again.

_However, it would seem that someone else had decided to pick up where I left off and try to conquer the city, _Kazuya mumbled as he parked his car and left it through the door. _Unlike my creatures, however, these beings can only be attacked via special shards with supernatural properties not unlike the Kazama power. _

The day Kazuya returned to the city, he was immediately made aware of the threat posed by the ghost-like Wisps and their mysterious leader Nagalya thanks to a chance encounter at the Mishima Heavy Industries main facility. Jun Kazama and Lee Chaolan had been combating the fiends for a full week, and they were having little luck as to learning of their purpose for being active save for what Nagalya had told Jun during the first attack.

When Kazuya learned that it was the President of G-Corporation, who was at the moment his most immediate nemesis, that gave Jun and Lee the means to combat the Wisps, the Cold-Blooded Prince remained surprisingly calm though he still had his doubts. _The threat posed by the Wisps is so great that even the leader of G-Corporation fears it to a point that he had to make alliances with his enemies. Jun is far from naïve, though: she knows that as soon as the Wisps are dealt with the alliance she formed with him will deteriorate like a sandcastle underneath a wave. For now, I will play the game that she has been placed in…_

Stepping into the shell that once acted as his laboratory, Kazuya took a deep breath and inhaled the smell of evil that still hung over the place. Even before he had begun experimenting with sorcery and magic, the lab had also been used to monstrosities that were scientific in origin back when he was the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu. That was when he was at the height of his influence, where everyone bowed down to him and gave him the respect he rightfully earned in the first King of Iron Fist Tournament.

However, Kazuya had learned the hard way that respect is only as good as the one who receives it, and he had been dishonored several times over and therefore lost that respect along with his influence. If he were to redeem himself and prove to the world that he was more than a martial artist with an unfair advantage in the Devil Gene, he would have to choose his allies more carefully and alter his methods.

_Of course, that doesn't mean I have to fight for the side of angels with nothing but a cheerful smile, _Kazuya thought as he shuddered at the image of him being a defender of the innocent now that he was an active participant in the fight against the Wisp's invasion of the world of the living. _What I am doing is simply a means to an end: someone is plagiarizing my work, and I am putting a stop to it: nothing more, nothing less._

As he walked through the foundation of the laboratory, Kazuya felt something bang against his shoe, which caused him to look down at what he had bumped into. _Maybe I am doing this because I feel that I have to redeem myself for the failures I have suffered, _he mumbled as he reached down and picked up what looked to be a charred femur, though he knew it wasn't from anything human. _Both Jun and Sorel preached to me about the power of emotion, and how utilizing it to my benefit can be instrumental in pursuing my ambitions. Perhaps if I do this, I will feel some sort of sense of fulfillment._

Before Kazuya could contemplate the matter further, the sound of footsteps entered his ears. _Someone is here, _he mumbled as he closed his eyes and focused his senses to detect the interloper's ki. _The intruder is definitely a fighter, judging from the intensity of his ki. However, it's not the same as the woman from before. _

"Kazuya Mishima," an unknown female voice shouted out while Kazuya turned around to face the intruder. "It's fitting that I find you here, in a burned out place like this!"

The owner of the female voice was a slim individual wearing a white tuxedo, with her blonde hair kept short in a very boyish configuration. _I do not believe I have seen this person before at the tournaments: surely I would remember such an androgynous fighter, _Kazuya thought as he folded his arms. "Tell me, young…lady," he said with a pause, as he was not entirely sure if the individual was indeed female. "Who might you be?"

"My name is Leo," she responded with rage dripping from her mouth like foam from a rabid dog. "You killed my mother: prepare to be defeated."

"If you want me to shake in fear at your retribution, you will have to be more specific," Kazuya replied with a smirk, amused at the woman's arrogance in thinking that someone such as her could possibly defeat him. "I have killed many people over the years, and if you want me to remember your mother you will have to give more details."

"My mother was a member of the board of directors of G-Corporation: you killed her during the Marunouchi building incident three months ago." Leo spat back while Kazuya stifled a yawn. "Does that ring any bells, Mishima?"

"As a matter of fact, it does, though I am curious as to how you know about my involvement in that attack. Information such as that was supposed to be top-secret," Kazuya answered with a raised eyebrow as his interest was now piqued. "However, I will find the answer to that myself at a later date." With that goal made clear to Leo, Kazuya turned around and started to walk away. "There are many people who want revenge on me for various reasons: you will have to wait your turn for your chance."

"Come back here, coward!"

Kazuya stopped in his tracks at that insult and slowly turned his head, his mutated left eye glowing both blue and red. "What did you call me?"

"I called you a coward: you tell me to wait in line, but the truth is that you're frightened to face me one-on-one without preparation," Leo was the one with her arms folded as she goaded Kazuya into dueling her. "If something doesn't go your way, you run away scared until you can figure out a way to deal with the problem. It's just like when you hid from Heihachi for twenty years: you knew you couldn't handle him, so you sought refuge with my mother's organization."

"There is a big difference between being a coward and being wise, young lady," Kazuya said with a growl as he clenched his fist. "You would do well to remember that. This is your last warning: walk away now or risk permanent injury at the hands of Kazuya Mishima, the Devil made flesh and the true heir of the Mishima Zaibatsu!"

"I had a feeling that would get your attention: now I can defeat you knowing that you gave it your all," Leo replied with a smile as she assumed her fighting stance. "I'll let you make the first move: attack from any angle and I will counter accordingly.

"You're awfully confident for someone who is about to have their pretty face turned into a swollen, bloody mess," Kazuya commented with a cruel smirk as he ran towards the girl with violent intent burning in his eyes. "Don't blame me if you wind up dead, insect!"

With his fist crackling with his natural electric blue ki, Kazuya lashed out at Leo with the intent to send her into the black void of unconsciousness with one swift strike to the jaw. However, Leo caught the fist and used Kazuya's forward momentum to toss him over her shoulders with a flowing fireman's carry. _Interesting: that kind of counter is usually reserved for Chinese martial arts, _Kazuya thought as he rolled with the throw and returned to his feet. _It was a very skillful counter, nonetheless: it's nice to know that she's not all talk._

Sidestepping a forward palm that was emphasized with a simultaneous foot stomp, Kazuya managed to grab onto Leo from her left side and picked her up with ease before flinging her downwards like a throw rug. The ground cracked from the sheer impact of the throw, but Leo quickly rolled back onto her feet with the only effects of such a powerful grapple being a quick rub of where she had landed.

With a confident smile, Leo quickly advances back towards Kazuya until she was right in his face, and ducked under Kazuya's spinning backfist to knock the Mishima-ryu practitioner off of his feet with a sweeping leg that was immediately followed by a spinning backfist of her own to send Kazuya flying into a pile of debris. "Don't underestimate me just because of my looks," Leo said while Kazuya quickly got back on his feet, referring to the comment he had made earlier. "As long as I have my willpower, I will emerge victorious!"

"If that is the case, then I will have to simply break your will to fight," Kazuya responded while he suddenly lashed out at Leo with a Flying Slash Kick that knocked the androgynous girl back a few meters. "This can either be a quick process, or a long and painful one. It will be entirely up to you."

Kazuya slowly walked towards Leo as she struggled to get back on her feet, patiently waiting to knock her back down again with his crackling fist prepared to knock her out cold. Unfortunately for him, Leo's struggling was actually a snare to lure Kazuya in close enough for her next attack: a sudden fist thrust to the stomach emphasized with a loud stomp that sent Kazuya even farther away than his kick sent her.

Running after Kazuya's flying body, Leo was ready for another go before Kazuya could even fully stand up, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him towards her. With her opponent right next to her, Leo used the back of her arm to hit Kazuya in the chest, and then pivoted the arm to punch him in the face before using her elbow to send him sliding across the ground. _I couldn't even see those attacks coming, but that's definitely some form of Hakkyoku-ken, _Kazuya muttered as he stood back up just in time to send Leo sprawling with a mid-section Soul Thrust punch. _She is quite skilled for her age._

Using a quick sidestep to evade a Leo's own thrust punch, Kazuya struck Leo in the jaw with a quick left hook and caused her to back away slightly. Seeing his opportunity, Kazuya grabbed onto the collar of her tuxedo and rammed his forehead into hers to send her crashing into the ground. Downed from the sudden headbutt, Leo was left vulnerable to Kazuya's stomp and subsequent heel grinding.

"You are persistent: you should be happy that I have spent this much time on a worm like you," Kazuya said with his ice-cold voice before removing his foot to let Leo get away. "If you want more, then come on! I'm in a bad mood and could use some therapeutic pain infliction."

Complying with Kazuya's new challenge, Leo came at Kazuya elbow-first with such swiftness and ferocity that Kazuya did not have time to react. The attack hit him in the chest and stunned him long enough for Leo to use a second elbow attack to strike his chest before shooting out her left palm and pushing him off his feet like a schoolyard bully. Before Kazuya could even think about rolling away, Leo used her own foot stomp to step on Kazuya's stomach.

When Leo tried for a second stomp, Kazuya caught her foot and stood back up with it still in his grasp. Kazuya allowed himself a smirk when he saw the young fighter hop around like a fool trying to keep balanced, and made her efforts a lot easier with another flinging toss to the ground. This time, Leo landed on her head and shoulders and she voiced her pain with a quick shout.

"It's nice to know you're as tough as people say you are," Leo suddenly said as she flipped back onto her feet and cracked her neck. "I can see why my mother's organization wanted you so badly." Charging her reddish-pink ki and resuming her fighting stance, Leo allowed herself a confident smile. "This is where I get serious. Prepare yourself, murdering scum!"

With her left leg suddenly shooting upwards in a crescent motion, Leo knocked Kazuya off his feet and into the air where she jumped up and extended the attack with a spinning kick from her right leg which sent Kazuya spiraling further upwards to a point where Leo actually landed before he did. The androgynous martial artist capitalized on this gravitational advantage by knocking her foe into the remains of a door with a thrusting punch.

Kazuya crashed into the door with such impact that it crumpled underneath his weight, and Leo was there to greet him back to solid ground with another foot sweep/backhanded fist combination to send him further away. The Cold-Blooded Prince landed on his hands and flipped back onto his feet with enough time to try and go for a midsection hook punch, but Leo blocked it and punched Kazuya in the face before rearing back and launching both of her ki-infused palms into Kazuya's abdomen to send him flying back a few meters.

Once again landing on his feet, Kazuya managed to get in a quick jab to Leo's nose as soon as she had come close enough, followed by a second jab which was in turn followed by a side punch that knocked Leo down long enough for Kazuya to lift his foot and stomp on her chest. However, Leo grabbed onto Kazuya's ankle and tripped him. The Cold-Blooded Prince fell flat on his back while Leo stood up and stomped on his chest to return the favor.

Lifting Kazuya off the ground with an arm drag, Leo once again used her potent one-armed triple-hit grapple to send the Cold-Blooded Prince back down to the ground where he eventually came to a stop at the remains of a stone wall. With Kazuya pinned to the wall, Leo charged her ki once again and used her entire upper body as a weapon: she rammed her shoulder and her hip into Kazuya's body and send him crashing through the wall like a giant monster crashing through building in an old Japanese science fiction film.

"Rest easy, mutter: you've been avenged," Leo said with a whisper when Kazuya landed along with a bunch of other debris. "I have brought honor back to our family, and now I can go home and contemplate a well-earned victory…"

"…are you quite done?"

Leo's eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice, and turned around to see Kazuya brush off the heavy debris like they were pieces of paper and dust himself off. "T-that's impossible. That was my most powerful flurry: I put all my energy into that last attack to go along with it!"

"Apparently that wasn't enough to defeat me," Kazuya replied with a smirk before charging his own ki and advancing towards Leo with a slow walk before gradually evolving the walk in a full run. "Let me show you what real power tastes like, worm: take notes once you exit the coma you are about to enter!"

Ducking under Leo's desperate palm thrust, Kazuya swept Leo off of her feet with a low Hellsweep kick, and immediately followed it with a Slaughter Hook punch that struck the young fighter before she could even hit the ground from the last attack to send her spiraling into a pile of ash.

Leo coughed and gasped as the ash affected her breathing, which gave Kazuya ample time to launch her into the air with a crackling standing uppercut: Kazuya's favorite technique known as the Electric Wind Godfist. With his foe airborne, Kazuya continued the assault with a snapping kick, a quick jab, and an impaling knee before mercifully knocking her away with a standing roundhouse kick.

"I will not accept this," Leo said with her frustration evident in her voice. "I refuse to lose to a halunke like you!" Using all of her might, Leo's leg shot out in an attempt to strike Kazuya in the side of the head. However, Kazuya easily blocked it and answered in kind with a head kick of his own immediately followed by a punch to the chest, a shin kick, and a punch to the stomach that send her spiraling away once again.

Waiting for his foe to stand back up, Kazuya crouched down and watched as Leo struggled to get back onto her feet. Once she did, she was immediately launched several meters away with a leaping Thunder Godfist. "This battle is over, worm," Kazuya said as Leo landed with a sickening thud. "If anyone asks about you, I will tell them that you fought with all of your skill but it just wasn't enough to put me down."

Walking past Leo with nothing but contempt for the insolence that that the girl had showed him, Kazuya heard a light groan which caused him to turn his head and see the girl slowly getting back onto her feet. "You are still conscious? That is impressive indeed," Kazuya commented as he turned around to face Leo. "It would seem that you're not just bluster, after all."

"I…am not through…with you yet," Leo muttered through tired breaths as she reached into the inside of her tuxedo. "I swear…vengeance…will be mine!" Suddenly taking her hand out of her jacket, Leo pulled out a silver revolver that she immediately aimed at Kazuya. Before she could pull the trigger, however, Kazuya reached down and snatched it away from her like a parent taking away a naughty child's favorite toy.

"You would pull a gun on me: the mighty Kazuya Mishima that survived being thrown off a cliff and returned from an active volcano?" Kazuya asked rhetorically as he pointed the gun at Leo's head. Staring into the young girl's wide eyes, Kazuya granted her an evil grin. "Congratulations, Leo: you might have what it takes to kill me, after all…"

"What are you waiting for, arschloch?" Leo asked as cold sweat dripped down her lovely face. "Pull the trigger, if you have the courage. I prepared myself for this outcome: I am not afraid to die…"

"You should be: dying is not an experience that a person should strive for, and I should know that more than anyone," Kazuya replied while his grin faded into a thin smirk. "I probably should kill you now: it would be the wise thing to do. However, I think I will hold off on your execution…would you like to know why?"

Taking Leo's silence as a yes, Kazuya gave his reason. "Unlike several of the other people who have tried to wreak their vengeance upon me, you are not picky about ideals and morals. You are willing to sell your soul to whatever demon you come across in order to exact your retribution…in this case, the demon is this fine firearm that I now hold in my hand."

"Y-you are wrong," Leo managed to stutter out despite the fear and anger she was seething with. "I still have my honor. It's just that…that…"

"It's just that you wanted to win no matter what," Kazuya finished Leo's sentence for her while he emptied out the bullets in the chamber of the revolver and put them in his pocket before handing the gun back to Leo. "You are defeated: consider yourself fortunate that you still have your life, and your face. Perhaps we will meet at the next tournament, and you can have another chance at your revenge."

However, Leo did not move to take the firearm: in fact, it was as if she had ceased moving at all. After a few seconds of silence, Leo slowly stood back up and walked away with a strangely blank expression on her face. Following Leo in curiosity, Kazuya found the source of her sudden silence: a woman in a brown trenchcoat with white skin and long navy-blue hair tied back in a ponytail with a golden dragon ornament on the end of it. Once Leo and the woman where next to each other, the woman whispered something in the young girl's ear before gently pecking her on the cheek and letting her pass.

"I had a feeling you would show up here sooner or later," Kazuya said while the woman walked towards him. "Jun tells me that you have telepathic abilities: I would appreciate if you didn't use them while I was talking to the person you use them on."

"I was getting impatient waiting for my turn, so I sped things up a bit," Nagalya said with a shrug before putting her hands in her pockets. "I have been wanting to speak to you, Kazuya: I thought I could drop a few extra hints for this game that you're about to play with me and my Wisps."

"I have no problems with that," Kazuya replied before folding his arms and getting down to business. "You have spoken to me so far as if we have met before, and your aura does seem awfully familiar. Tell me why that is."

"…do you remember Dragoon, the Jeet Kune Do incubus?" Nagalya asked with the allure in her voice suddenly gone.

"Of course I do," Kazuya nodded his head before continuing. "Dragoon was the result of mixing my dark sorcery with Jun's blood to create a lifeform that had everything I could want in a lieutenant: brains, agility, strength, and technique. However, one thing that he did not have was a killer instinct. He strayed from the mission I had assigned to him upon his creation and fell in love with a human woman. This goaded Astraroth into killing him, and thus ending the experiment."

With that summary fresh in both of their minds, Nagalya took off her trenchcoat to reveal her double dragon helix that consisted of her top and the chainmail stockings that covered her legs. "Take a good look at my body, Kazuya," Nagalya said as she dusted off her metallic red gloves and let the allure in her voice return. "Do you see anything familiar?"

After a few seconds of silence, Kazuya raised an eyebrow. "Your genders are obviously different, but the skin tone and facial structures are unmistakable: am I to believe that you are Dragoon come back to life?"

"Not quite," Nagalya said before pointing to the maroon-and-rainbow colored eye ornament on her choker. "Shortly after Dragoon's demise, my master focused all of the energy that was released at his time of death into this eye decoration. When the two fused together, it resulted in me: Dragon succubus Nagalya. That is why you recognize my aura, and how I recognize you."

"So…you are sort of like Dragoon's sister then," Kazuya observed, slowly nodding his head in agreement to his own conclusion. "However, it seems that you are not as loyal to me as your brother. Tell me more about this master you referred to."

"I have been specifically told not to speak his name until he has fully awakened," Nagalya replied before taking her trenchcoat and putting it back on her nearly-naked body. "I will tell you this: he shall be the one who will destroy this world and nearly everyone that lives on it. When that happens, the ranks of the Wisps will swell to untold numbers, and we will rule over whatever survivors remain from his rampage. That is the purpose of my mission: to usher in a new age of darkness and cleanse this world of the evil known as life."

As soon as Nagalya finishes saying that, she suddenly fired off a bolt of dark purple ki in Kazuya's direction that forced him to throw up his arms and brace himself. After fending off the bolt of energy with a textbook block, Kazuya looked around and saw that Nagalya had used the distraction to escape. _So, she's even attempting a dark resurrection just like I did with Astaroth and Ryoku, _he mumbled before turning around to leave.

As soon as he stepped out of the ruins, Kazuya looked up to the top of a nearby hill and saw the graves of the two aforementioned fiends that he had brought back into the world of the living only to see them die again. _I will not have the same thing happen again: I will prevent this resurrection from occurring even if it costs me my life. If I have to fight on the side of angels, then so be it: it shall be worth protecting my pride!_


	11. Geisha

Even in the midst of a heated war between humans and ghosts, Lee Chaolan did not forget about the birthday of Jun Kazama, even when she had not remembered it.

As a veteran womanizer, Lee had made it a point since the first King of Iron Fist tournament to remember the birthdays of every female who participated, in case he found himself in a position to woo one of them. Jun's birthday was still fresh in his memory, and he immediately brought it up when the day started. Unfortunately, Jun did not remember she had a birthday: being she had spent seven years in suspended animation, it was easy for her to lose track of the important days such as that.

"When we're as old as we are, Chaolan, things like birthdays become unimportant," Jun had said when Lee brought up her birthday. "However, it was very sweet of you to remember it. Is there anything you would like to do for me on this special day?"

At first Lee was going to offer up his body for birthday sex, but he quickly decided against it as he was unsure what Kazuya would have thought if he found the two of them consorting with each other in such a way. So instead, he invited both Jun and Kazuya to a certain restaurant that was in the western part of Tokyo: a place called Sakura Smiles.

Sakura Smiles was a themed restaurant that was a popular tourist destination due to its fine Japanese cuisine, reasonable service, and hourly shows that the employees put on to entertain the patrons. "This is so ridiculous," Kazuya said to Jun while Lee was off talking to the waiter at the front door about their reservation. "Instead of celebrating something as trivial as a birthday, we should be scouring the city for any leads on the Wisps' activities. The Shinkenger hunted me like a dog, so why should I do any different to this woman who would copy my work?"

"Chaolan and I have yet to hear of a Wisp attack that did not happen while we were around," Jun explained as Lee finished talking to the waiter and made his way to where Jun and Kazuya were sitting. "Nagalya is a very arrogant person: she specifically targets us and builds her schemes around our location to mock us. If the Wisps do decide to attack today, it will probably be here in this restaurant."

"Then why are you here and not somewhere with less people?" Kazuya asked with a raised eyebrow. "Would it not be better for your overbearing conscience if you fought the Wisps with no innocent people at risk?"

"There is a chance that they will not show up if we purposely bait ourselves," Jun answered before a thin smile formed on her face. "Besides, I do not want to hurt your brother's feelings. He went through all of this trouble just to please me, and it would be rude of me to say no."

"What are you two talking about?" Lee butted in as Kazuya and Jun stood up and followed the silver-haired playboy into the restaurant. "I went through a lot of trouble to get these reservations, so the least you could do is not gossip amongst yourselves and attempt to enjoy the marvelous gift I have given you!"

"Watch your tone, Chaolan," Kazuya growled as the trio entered the main dining room. "I will not tolerate your insolence: speak to me like that again or the meal that will be served will be your bloody carcass pulped and tenderized."

Not willing to combat his brother just yet, Lee quieted down as Jun looked around at the dining room. It was quite spacious, with the waiters dressed in light blue kimonos and twenty-three different tables. There were two large tables on either side of the room with a flat wok in the center of each one, where the cooks in black kimonos cooked meats and put on shows for whatever customers were fortunate enough to book a reservation in that area. At the far end of the room was a moderate-sized stage with two sliding doors acting as curtains. _This place does have a certain charm to it, _Jun thought as she and the two rival brothers sat down at a medium-sized table for their small party. _I am glad that Chaolan brought me here._

After a couple of minutes, one of the waiters came up to the trio's table and took their orders. Once that was done, the waiter took something from his pocket and placed it next to Lee. To the trio's surprise, it was another blue metal shard. "One of the cooks in the back requested that this be given to you, Mr. Lee."

"I see: tell him I said 'thank you.'" Lee said after a moment of silence. Once the waiter had left with their orders, the silver-haired martial artist brushed back his hair and let out a sigh. "Even when I'm trying to get away from it all, the shards and the whole mess with the Wisps seem to follow me."

"Stop your whining and get used to it," Kazuya replied with his voice cold and stern. "If you had ended this when it was still fresh, things would not have gone out of hand and you would not have to worry about people giving you shards." Reaching out to take the shard but remembering how much of a struggle it was to keep just one of them from electrocuting him, Kazuya pulled his hand back and instead folded his arms. "If you are truly a warrior, then you would accept your fate to fight and look forward to it."

_Even though being cruel is in his nature, the true source of his bitterness tonight comes from the realization that he was the one who inadvertently started this nightmare. _Jun deduced as Kazuya turned his head and looked out into the rest of the dining room while lightly tapping his finger on the table. _He told me yesterday that Nagalya was born from the excess energy of one of his creations, and that if he had not made that creation in the first place none of this would be happening. _

_Of course, he is not the only one who had made that sort of mistake, _she thought as she took off her sunglasses and placed them on the table before looking up into the ceiling. _I too became caught up in his sorcery and used his knowledge of the dark arts to resurrect my father whose mad ambitions almost destroyed us all. _With a sigh, Jun continued to get lost in her thoughts while she waited for her food to come. _Just as I had a trial to overcome with my error, Kazuya now has one with his…and he does not like it one bit._

After a few minutes of silence, two men came up to the trio's table and placed their orders in front of them, making sure that the order they put in front of their customers was indeed their own order and not of one of their companions. "It has been a long time, everyone," one of the men said, causing the trio to look up and see a familiar face.

Standing next to the waiter was a large Japanese man wearing the black kimono associated with the cooks of the restaurant with black hair set in a chonmage style and a wide scar across his forehand. "Am I to believe that you cooked our food, Ganryu," Lee said, slightly impressed. "I'm surprised that you didn't eat it beforehand!"

"Chaolan, that was very rude of you," Jun said in a surprisingly stern voice. "It is good to see that Mr. Ganryu has graced us with his services. I am sure it will be delicious." Jun bowed her head and picked up her chopsticks to begin eating her rice appetizer. "I was under the impression that you were running a sumo stable in Hawaii now."

"The stable is closed at the moment: I now work here in hopes of improving my cooking skills and starting my own restaurant," Ganryu answered truthfully before turning to Lee. "Lee-sama, the shard that you received earlier was from me. I was told to give it to you as soon as I picked it up, so when I heard you had made a reservation I brought it with me to give to you." Turning to Kazuya, Ganryu reluctantly bowed his head in polite greetings. "Kazuya-sama, I hope you do not hold any ill will against me for leaving your circle after your resurfacing. I simply wished to distance myself from my old life to start a new one."

"Don't feel bad: I purposely kept the word of my death alive so that I could start over, as well," Kazuya said with a hint of resentment towards Ganryu's feigned politeness, knowing full well he didn't return to his fold because he could not stomach working for him. "However, if this food is not to my liking, I will make sure that your culinary career hits an irrevocable snag."

"Your criticism is much appreciated, but I must now go back to work and complete your main dishes." Bowing his head once again, Ganryu glanced over to the waiter next to him and motioned for him to take another person's order before walking back into the kitchen. "Thank you for choosing Sakura Smiles, and I hope we have the honor of serving you again someday."

"…I guess it was nice of him to come out and greet us," Lee said with a shrug before splitting his own chopsticks so he could dig into his bowl of brown rice. "I wonder if he's still chasing the two Changs. Did you hear about how he tried to pick up Julia and-"

"Ganryu has problems, just like you do," Kazuya said with his voice full of impatience. "Fortunately for him, his problems do not seem to be quite as extreme as yours…"

"Gentlemen, please," Jun intervened with the same stern voice she used to stern Lee. "This is not the time to be quarreling: we are here as a group, so we might as well act as one." _The tension between the two of them is increasing with every moment: their relationship is indeed a strange one, _she thought quietly while Lee and Kazuya glared at each other bitterly before turning away and eating their food quietly. _Despite growing up together, there is a dark rivalry between the two of them almost as great as the one they have with their father. Hopefully they will be able to cooperate long enough to defeat the Wisps._

As soon as Jun completed that thought, the lights darkened as the stage at the end of the room was lit with a single light. The room came to a quieted hush after a couple of seconds and the sliding doors slowly slid open to reveal a traditional medieval Japanese household room with two women in dark purple kimonos with light blue dragons splashed across the front: one of them standing up, and the other on her knees with her head bowed down.

The one standing up was someone who Jun and her two male companions had become quite familiar with in the past week: Nagalya, with her chalky skin and dark blue hair made apparent to everyone in the room, though her telepathic powers kept them from saying anything. "Welcome to Sakura Smiles, masters and mistresses," Nagalya said in a surprisingly polite voice. "I hope that you have been enjoying your fine cuisine today…"

"She is absolutely stunning in that kimono," Lee whispered just loud enough for Kazuya to hear. "If only she wasn't a homicidal maniac: I would shower her with so many other kimonos…"

"Well, she is a homicidal maniac, and she wouldn't think twice about leveling the city if opportunity presented itself," Kazuya replied with a growl. "Stop thinking with your extremities and start thinking with your head, idiot."

Nagalya walked over to the side of the stage and watched as the woman sitting down raised her head and made her features known. She was definitely a Wisp, with her light blue skin and long, silk-like violet hair shining in the light. Silently standing up, the woman revealed something that she had been hiding in her kimono: a long katana in a dark red sheath as tall as she was. The crowd let out a collective "ooo" at the impressive weapon that she had hidden in her kimono, and the woman removed it from its sheath and let its polished blade shine for the crowd.

"I am told that we have a birthday in the house today," Nagalya said while her companion performed a slow but smooth kata with the katana. "Jun Kazama, please come up to the stage for these fine people…_and do it quick, unless you want me to take their lives right now and create a huge panic."_

With that threat psychically transmitted to Jun's mind, the former detective stood up and turned to Kazuya and Lee. "Please do not follow me unless I say so: we do not know what she'll do if she does not get her way. For now, it is safer to play her game."

"Hmph…do what you wish," Kazuya replied with a scoff. "Be sure not to get in over your head: you will be of no help to anyone if you are dead…"

With that less-than-compassionate warning, Jun left her table and walked up to the stage until she was right next to Nagalya. "Thank you for gracing me with your presence tonight, Ms. Kazama," she said with a mischievous smile. "If you don't mind my asking, how old are you today?"

"…I am forty-five years old," Jun answered, looking out into the crowd.

"Forty-five years old? That's pretty impressive," Nagalya said with a whistle before using her telepathy to make everyone in the room except for Kazuya and Lee applaud. "You don't look a day older than thirty. What is your secret?" Before Jun could say anything, Nagalya interrupted her and continued. "That's fascinating: I'll have to keep that in mind."

"Why am I up here, Nagalya?" Jun asked, unamused by Nagalya's charade.

"Since you are a world-class fighter, I was hoping you could give these fine folks a demonstration and duel my very good friend over there: Ayumi Tajiri, the Geisha Wisp," the pale-skinned woman said with her smirk only widening as her companion ended her kata and pointed her long blade at Jun. "Don't worry: I specifically told her to avoid your vitals until I say so."

"This is the first time I have heard you give your subordinates a human name," Jun observed as she turned around and slowly assumed her fighting stance. "What did this lady do to deserve her rank as a Wisp? She seems like she perished at a young age."

"She made the mistake of falling in love with a monk, despite how they are men of the cloth that have sworn abstinence from…frolicking," Nagalya answered while the Geisha lowered her blade and began advancing towards her adversary. "Soon after that, she was killed by a different and more zealous monk and she let her hatred stew in the afterlife until she became a Wisp."

"…what a tragic tale," Jun said after a pause while she jumped over the Geisha's low horizontal slash to kick her in the jaw. "Unfortunately the only solace I can offer her is an honorable battle and my deepest sympathies." The impact of the kick knocked the Geisha away with her kimono flowing behind her like the tail of a comet. Even with such long garments, the Geisha still had the where-with-all to land gracefully on her sandal-covered feet and charge at Jun once again.

With surprising quickness, the Geisha used her long katana to poke Jun in the shoulder with just enough force to cause her to take a few steps back so as to avoid getting impaled, and then used that opportunity to extend her hands further bring her blade down in a vertical slash to scratch Jun's leg and draw blood. _That's an impressive feint: I didn't even think about that possibility, _Jun mumbled as the Geisha Wisp brought her weapon back to a neutral position while Jun's healing factor tended to the scratch. _I have never seen someone so skilled with a blade so long._

The Geisha lashed out at Jun once again, this time with a high horizontal slash that Jun was barely able to duck under, cutting a couple of strands of hair off her her head. Seeing her opening, Jun rose back up and launched the Geisha a few meters into the air with a vertical elbow strike: the Kazama-ryu's patented Charging Strike. Just before the Geisha hit the ground, Jun sent her spiraling away with a quick heel kick and resumed her fighting stance while the Geisha landed on her side.

Quickly standing back up, the Geisha moved her head to the side and avoided Jun's palm thrust to counter with a thrust of her hilt to strike her adversary in the chest. When Jun tried to cover her chest, the ghostly Wisp struck her on top of her head and force her to protect that area. This opened up an opportunity for the Geisha to send Jun sprawling with a powerful diagonal slash.

_It's a good thing I decided to wear protection in case this happened, _Jun thought as she looked at the cut on her dress that revealed her Kevlar corset. _Unfortunately, my bare flesh probably won't be able to handle attacks like that. I don't know how potent my healing factor is, but I would rather not test its limits in this sort of situation._

Using her quick reflexes, Jun caught the Geisha's blade between her palms just as it was about to be brought down on her head and then threw the blade to her left to strike the Geisha in the chest with a thrusting palm. Once again, the Wisp was knocked off her feet and to the ground and gave the former detective more time to formulate a plan. _Thanks to her lack of armor, she's not as impervious to physical attacks as some of the other Wisps. Maybe I can end this quickly like I did with the Rifleman._

When Jun approached the Geisha to press forward on the attack, however, the stunning specter connected with a quick vertical slash that struck Jun in her collarbone, causing the martial artist to let out a shout while the Geisha continued her attack with an upwards attack, and then a horizontal chop that knocked Jun away just as she had knocked her away earlier.

_Her reach makes her difficult to approach, and unlike the Rifleman she's skilled at close range, _Jun muttered while she moved her head left and right to avoid the rapid stabs that the Geisha attempted. After the seventh attempt, Jun's knee shot up and struck her foe in the stomach, causing her to back away slightly and give Jun the opportunity to send her spiraling away with a jumping reverse roundhouse kick. _I suppose it's only natural that my opponents would evolve along with me._

Pursuing the Geisha as she fell on the floor, Jun lifted her foot and applied to the Geisha's chest with a swift and merciless Geta Stomp. With the Geisha stunned by the attack, Jun repeated the maneuver to try and cause more damage, but her ghostly foe quickly moved her long blade and parried the foot with it. Surprised by the unique block, Jun was left open to a quick foot sweep that was immediately followed by a crescent-motion cut that launched her into the air.

Jun landed hard on her head, and the impact elicited a cry of pain from the normally collected martial artist. However, the Geisha wasn't about to give her foe any respite: with her blade glowing like the moon on a clear night, the specter cut through the air like a knife and unleashed a wave of energy that sent Jun flying backwards through a paper wall set up on the stage.

"Impressive," Jun said out loud as she rubbed the back of her head and stood back up while removing the paper wall that had stuck to her due to her impaling it. "In addition to the extensive reach of the physical blade, she can channel her ki into it and use attacks that allow her even more distance. "She is truly an impressive fighter: I am surprised that you did not enlist her sooner."

"The Geisha Wisp hates killing: I didn't want to use someone who wasn't willing to get her hands dirty," Nagalya explained with a shrug while Jun charged at the Geisha only to get pushed back with a forward kick immediately followed by a diagonal hack that left a thin scar just underneath her shoulder. "When she heard that you had defeated the Samurai Wisp, one of the most powerful warriors we had to offer, her pride as a martial artist won over and she accepted my offer."

"Interesting indeed," Jun replied as she parried the Geisha's horizontal attack by grabbing onto the blade and pulling it towards her to take her foe with it. Once she was within range, Jun grabbed onto the Wisp's arm and applied her ki-infused palm to the Geisha's stomach to bring forth a look of agony on the blue-skinned woman's face. "Perhaps after I defeat you and stop your mad ambitions, you can tell me more about the history of these worthy opponents."

Quickly grabbing onto her foe's shoulders, Jun rammed her left knee into the Wisp's abdomen, followed by a second strike that was immediately followed by a jumping right knee that knocked the Geisha high into the air and sent her crashing onto the floor with a thud. With her opponent downed from the attack, Jun performed a quick cartwheel and drove her foot into her chest before jumping off and resuming her fighting stance.

Frustrated, the Geisha flipped back onto her feet and charged at Jun with her blade raised high above her head…so high that it hit a low-hung lighting fixture that was a few feet about the stage and caused her to stop and look up to see what she had hit. This curiosity gave Jun the opportunity to launch her into the air with another Charging Strike and allow her to crash into the same lighting fixture before she fell back down to the ground while the light teetered precariously on the wire it was held up by.

"You know, every time you have one of these epiphanies like learning about the origin of whatever Wisp you fight, your stamina seems to skyrocket," Nagalya said as she watched Jun bombard the Geisha with a rapid succession of gut punches before knocking her away with a quick uppercut that was normally reserved for boxers. "Does knowing about your enemy give you confidence or something?"

"I…prefer...not to think about that aspect of how my fights go," Jun said between dodges as the Geisha once again attempted to skewer her with her katana once she was back within striking distance. After the fourth stab, the Geisha opted for an upwards-diagonal slash that knocked Jun away, but not enough for her to land on her back. "However, knowing that these Wisps were once human does make me want to end their suffering as quickly as possible."

"Interesting…I prefer dragging fights out as long as possible so the agony of defeat is that much more gratifying to watch," Nagalya replied while the Geisha reared back and focused her ki into her blade, causing it to glow like a thin star. "Unfortunately for me, I think Ayumi here has had enough horseplay. Try not to get sliced in half, okay?"

Complying with the Geisha Wisp's request to conclude the fight, Jun focused her firework-like ki into her left leg and slowly began building rotational velocity while the Geisha dragged her blade across the floor leaving a long scar into the polished wood. As the two of them came closer to each other, their speed increased until Jun was practically a human tornado and the Geisha was running forward with no restraint. Something would have to give when they collided, and neither was willing to give any quarter.

With a flash of light, the two forces collided and skid to a halt with the two combatants turned away from each other. Jun's foot was held high into the air, still extended from the Spinning Heel Drop while the Geisha's arm was fully extended along with her blade. After a few seconds of silences and motionlessness, Jun let out a grunt and grabbed onto her stomach: her Kevlar had been cut open and blood was dripping from the flesh underneath.

Before Nagalya could celebrate with a derogatory statement and a haughty laugh, however, the Geisha suddenly fell on to her knees and struggled to maintain her footing: blue smoke was coming from her ears and mouth, and that usually signified a Wisp's defeat. Using her long blade as a crutch, the Geisha turned her head and allowed herself a thin smile before whispering a name to no one in particular before falling to the ground and dissipating in a hiss of blue mist. "Nori…aki…"

"Another one down, I guess," Nagalya said with her voice full of resignation before leaping an inhuman distance into the air and landing just in front of the exit before either Jun, Kazuya, or Lee could react. "I'll see you next time, true believers! Ta-ta!"

"Hey, come back here," Lee shouted out, getting out of his seat and chasing after the retreating woman despite the lengthy head-start she had. "I won't let you get away that easily!"

--

"Are you all right, Jun?" Kazuya asked as Jun continued to tend to her stomach wound. "Can you walk?"

"It looks worse than it really is: the healing factor that your blood gives me minimized the damage," Jun answered with a nod as she straightened herself out and slowly stepped off of the stage. "Thank you for your concern, nonetheless, Kazuya…and thank you for letting me fight my own battle."

"You were in no immediate danger, so I did nothing to interfere," Kazuya said with a scoff before reaching into his pocket and pulling something out. Extending his hand and offering the object to Jun, the Cold-Blooded Prince continued. "Take this: it might come in handy when it comes time to actually confront Nagalya."

The object was quite familiar to Jun: it was the ShinkenGold morpher that she had used to defeat her father two months before. When she put it on, however, she felt something press unfamiliar against her wrist that caused her to take it off and inspect to bottom of the item. It was an engraving of a short poem, and it went as followed:

_Truth: justified via fists._

_Honor: achieved via pride._

_Loyalty: eternal via trials._

"Kazuya," Jun whispered as the gray-haired warrior turned away and started walking out the door while she stood in place, stunned by her birthday gift. After a few seconds, Kazuya noticed that Jun was not following her, causing him to turn around and look at her in curiosity. As he did so, a warm smile formed across the former detective's face. "Thank you…so very much."

"Do not mention it to anyone," Kazuya replied with a sneer. "It is bad for my reputation as the Devil made Flesh."

_I feel so warm: I have become so used to Kazuya's bitterness that I had nearly forgotten that he was still emotionally capable of things like this, _Jun thought with her smile only widening despite the mild pain she was in thanks to her wound while she and Kazuya walked outside to find where Lee ran off to. _Kazuya: for you, I will work hard to unite the three of us into a close-knit team capable of defeating whatever Nagalya throws our way!_


	12. Monk

The Zozoji Temple, located in the Tokyo garden district, is one of the oldest known temples in Japan, built in the year 1393 and moved to its current location in 1590 by the Tokugawa Ieyasu. It is now the main temple of the Jodo Buddhist sect in the Kanto region of Japan. Being that it was once the main Buddhist temple of the Tokugawa Shogunate, a mausoleum of the Tokugawa family can still be found on the grounds of the temple, and the crest of the Tokugawa family still decorates the family temple.

Neither Lee Chaolan, Kazuya Mishima, or Jun Kazama were overly religious, but they chose to come to this part of Tokyo for a peculiar reason: someone familiar to them had requested that they meet him at the temple for vital information regarding the blue shards that the trio had been accumulating.

Early that morning, Heihachi called Jun via her cell phone and informed her that he had found someone who claimed to have extensive knowledge of the shards: the King of Iron Fist Tournament veteran and leader of the Manjitou, Yoshimitsu. Yoshimitsu had long been an enigma to the other competitors of the tournament, and was a constant thorn in the side of the Zaibatsu prior to the Manji clan's decimation at the hands of Bryan Fury. In a very rare lapse of stealth, the Manjitou leader arrived at the front gate of the Mishima Mansion not long after Jun had defeated the Geisha Wisp, and told Heihachi that he wished to contact Lee Chaolan so that he could give him another shard and also inform him of what he called "his destiny."

The most information that could be gathered on him was that there had been several Yoshimitsus across history, and all of them were said to be defenders of the weak and abused. Even though Jun did not suspect foul play based on the assumption that the current Yoshimitsu was not that much different, Lee had his doubts.

_Yoshimitsu could have brought that up to call me out and slice me in half for my involvement in the animal experimentation project all those years ago: he is good friends with Dr. Boskonovitch, after all, _Lee thought nervously as he and his two companions walked through the entrance and searched for the large tree that Yoshimitsu had asked them to meet him at. _Of course, he could always forget about me and go right for the kill in Kazuya: I imagine there's no love lost between those two, __especially since that wacko's apprentice's father used to work for Kazuya._

"I find it difficult to believe that self-serving swordsman would aid us without expecting something in return," Kazuya suddenly said, breaking Lee's train of thought. "He is someone who fights for the sake of his clan first: I doubt he will simply give us the shard without expecting some kind of hand-me-down in return."

"Yoshimitsu went out of his way to prevent Asuka from ripping our mutual friend Kenichi Masamune in half during the last tournament," Jun said with a whisper, making sure Lee did not hear her even though the silver-haired playboy was curious as to what she was saying. "He is also someone who has sworn to see to it that Jean Sorel pays for his sins: there are few people I would trust more."

"We are not dealing with Sorel or G-Corporation right now: we are dealing with Wisps," Kazuya replied. "Unless Yoshimitsu has information regarding them, as well, then it is possible that he dragged us out here for no reason other than to give Lee another one of his silly shards and the two of us with nothing."

"Could you guys not whisper amongst yourselves: you make me feel like you're going to bail in case Yoshimitsu tries to bisect me for my involvement with the Zaibatsu back in the day," Lee said as he wiped the sweat from his brow in the heat of the mid-afternoon sun. "If we're all here, then we should be able to take him out no problem if he does something."

"I was telling Kazuya that we need to have more faith in Yoshimitsu," Jun said to Lee as she walked over to him. "I have seen him operate: he is a good man who fights for justice. I doubt he would lie about something as crucial as this simply to kill you, especially since he went through the trouble of sending his message through Heihachi who he has also clashed with."

"…I suppose," Lee replied with a shrug. "I do hope he was telling the truth, though: I'm pretty curious as to what he knows about the shards." As Lee finished that sentence, the trio found the tree that Yoshimitsu had asked to meet him at, and the three of them walked under its leafy cover to get out of the sun.

"We would all like to know more about the shards: this is why we must comply with his requests," Jun said as she looked into the leaf-filled branches above her. "We are curious as to why the shards seem to gravitate towards you but the shards that Kazuya and I hold have not yet spoken to us…perhaps you can enlighten us, Yoshimitsu?"

As if on cue, the leaves rustled and the air seemed to bend around the branch that was just above Lee's head. After a few seconds, the swordsman Yoshimitsu literally appeared out of nowhere, perched on the branch looking down on the trio. "You saw through my cloaking device: your senses are sharp, Jun Kazama," he said in a deep, cryptic voice before jumping off of the branch and landing between the trio. Turning his head to the right, the swordsman's voice pointed a finger at Kazuya. "Why is he here? I was under the impression he was responsible for this chaos, just like the last time."

"I am responsible, but not in the way that you might imagine," Kazuya answered before rolling his eyes and looking away. "Believe it or not, I have somehow found myself fighting against this new threat, so you have nothing to fear from me…at least for the moment."

After a moment of quiet tension, Yoshimitsu turned to his left and saw Lee, who quickly backed away in surprise. While he was not as tall as Kazuya, Yoshimitsu was still an intimidating figure. His body was completely sheathed in dark blue armor, with red wire covering any openings in it save for a long golden horn that came out of his forehead and a light purple clear visor that shielded the hannya mask that covered his face.

_It's not the suit I'm worried about, _Lee thought nervously as Yoshimitsu stared into his soul. _It's that sword that is across his back: there's supposed to be this weird curse on it that allows it to cut through anything, even things that are immaterial. I doubt my flesh would be much of a challenge if he decided to go nuts with it._

"Lee Chaolan," Yoshimitsu said after a few seconds of silence, causing Lee to snap to attention. "You are probably the last person that I would predict the sacred weapon would chose for its next wielder, but it obviously was not for me to decide." Outstretching his hand to reveal a familiar blue shard, Yoshimitsu waited for Lee to take it from his hand before continuing. "Fate works in mysterious ways."

"'Sacred weapon?'" Jun repeated with a raised eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "I guess that means you do know about the purpose of the shards and where it comes from."

"I only know legends, but that is often enough for me in my line of work," Yoshimitsu said before walking to the base of the large tree they were standing under and sitting down with his back pressed against it. "Pay attention, brave warriors: I have a tale to tell you."

Curious, the three martial artists sat down around Yoshimitsu like children surrounding a teacher during an outdoor activity. "You have our attention, Yoshimitsu," Kazuya said with his voice full of contempt. "For your sake, I hope your story is worth my attention: I hate people who waste time needlessly."

"Centuries ago, there were two blades that could change their shape at the behest of their owner," the swordsman began while he pulled the katana from the sheath on his back and let its ghostly emerald glow shine beneath the shade between the tree. "One of the swords, the Soul Edge, was a weapon of evil that consumed the soul of both its wielder and those who fell beneath it. The katana that you see before you was exposed to the blade back when the Manjitou was still a thought in my ancestor's mind. If it does not consume a certain amount of evil within a given time, it will drive me insane: this is but a sample of the power that Soul Edge had."

"I already know what the Soul Edge is: my former general Astaroth explained its power to me in great detail," Kazuya interrupted, causing Yoshimitsu to turn his head and glare at him with glowing eyes. "I was actually considering hunting it down to use against the Shinkenger, until I was able to obtain the ShinkenSlayer morpher and make such actions superfluous."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I was listening to his story," Lee interjected, still oblivious to what really happened during Kazuya's bid to take over the city using sorcery and mayhem. After receiving a cold glare from Kazuya, Lee shuddered and turned back to Yoshimitsu. "Please continue."

"…the other sword was a sword of righteousness called the Soul Calibur." Putting his katana back into his sheath, Yoshimitsu pointed to the shard that was still in Lee's hand. "The Soul Calibur had the ability to strengthen itself without the need of consuming human souls, and instead relied on them in a symbiotic relationship. The blade would purify the user's soul and remove any unnecessary evil that lurked within it, and in turn it would take on the shape-shifting properties its opposite to fit the user's wishes."

"So the shards are part of the weapon Soul Calibur," Jun concluded while she pulled out the shard in her pocket. "I guess that would explain why it had such a reaction to Kazuya, who is saturated with the Devil Gene. Still, why is Lee the one who the shards gravitate towards? I was the one who gave Lee his shard, but so far no one has brought another one to me."

"…the power of the two blades became so great that their clashes would shake the foundation of time and space. Eventually, a group of warriors took it upon themselves to shatter both blades and scatter their fragments across the globe. If one became more powerful than the other, then balance would be disturbed and there would be great consequences." Yoshimitsu explained before turning back to Lee. "However, it would seem that a new threat has emerged, and the Soul Calibur is attempting to become whole again so that a new hero can wield it and stop this threat…somehow it has chosen Lee Chaolan as its next host."

"…does that mean I'm special?" Lee said with a smile before jumping up into the air and pumping his fist. "Finally, someone is recognizing my greatness! I'm glad to know that at least someone appreciates my flawless technique!"

"You said that the two blades must be balanced, or else there will be chaos," Kazuya pointed out, ignoring Lee's over-the-top celebration and rant. "I have seen pictures of the evil blade Soul Edge, but so far none of us have seen anything like it. Do the Wisps have anything to do with it?"

"The powers of Soul Edge are as vast as they are great: I suppose it is possible that there would be an increase in supernatural activity if it had indeed activated again," Yoshimitsu answered before crossing his arms and thinking about the matter. "I suppose I would have to see one of these so-called Wisps for myself: since my blade gives off a similar aura as the wicked Soul Edge, it would not be too hard to differentiate the two."

The leader of the Manjitou sudden jumped up as a computerized beep suddenly came from his head, and strange symbols began appearing on his visor. "There are two powerful energies come from that direction," Yoshimitsu turned his head to the left and pointed to the inner sanctum of the temple a few dozen meters away. "Perhaps I will not have to wait long, after all…"

--

Quickly running to the inner sanctum of the temple that Yoshimitsu had become so familiar with in the past three months, the quartet of King of Iron Fist competitors opened the door to find three human bodies lying in a pool of their own blood, and two other people standing near the golden Buddha statue at the far end of the room with their backs turned to the fallen bodies and the quartet.

"All three of them are dead," Yoshimitsu said, not bothering to check for pulses as their lack of auras gave away their deceased statuses. Pointing an accusing finger at the two unknown people standing near the Buudha stage, the swordsman issued a challenge. "Fiends, turn around and face your executioner: you shall pay for the lives of these innocents with your blood!"

The two figures turned around and made their features known to the quartet. The woman was easily recognizable the Jun and the Mishima brothers: it was Nagalya, wearing her usual trenchcoat and fedora. The man, on the other hand, was unfamiliar to any of the martial art veterans: he was a man of medium height, wearing a dark blue robe that went down to thighs. His arms and legs were completely wrapped in gray bandages, while his feet were covered with wooden sandals and hands protected with dark red sparring gloves. Tipping his straw hat upwards to reveal a youthful blue face with glowing yellow eyes, the man snapped his fingers and a long shakujo with golden rings appeared in his hand.

"You already missed the show, sadly," Nagalya said after the monk's staff appeared. "These three were necessary sacrifices in reviving our god: we were channeling some spiritual energy that resides in this statue in hopes of speeding up his awakening, but it looks like we still have a way to go."

"…your aura is the same as my blade," Yoshimitsu pulled out his katana and pointed out its pulsating reaction to the two interlopers walking closer to him. "That must mean that you are the one who possesses the evil blade!"

"Oh?" Nagalya raised an eyebrow before taking off her hat and revealing her beautiful face. "I guess you're talking about this thing." Pointing at her choker and the blue-and-red eye ornament in its center, the dragon succubus scratched her head in curiosity. "My god used this ornament to create me: I guess now I know the reason **why **he used it. Small world, I guess…"

"So small that there is far too little room for someone like you to exist," Kazuya said before assuming his fighting stance. "Come forth, harlot: I shall end your existence and put an end to this nonsense about magic swords and gods of destruction."

"Actually, I'm not here to fight," Nagalya motioned to the hat-bearing monk next to her, who turned to her and bowed his head before walking a little bit closer to the quartet. "Allow me to introduce Noriaki Masamune, the Monk Wisp. He has personally requested that he duel one of you in a bout for honor."

"…Noriaki was the name that the other Wisp mentioned last night," Jun said after a moment's pause recalling where she had heard the name. "Is this by any chance the monk that inadvertently forced her into damnation?"

"You catch on quick, and because he broke his rule of abstinence to consort with her, Mr. Masamune here was a prime candidate for his soul to become a Wisp," Nagalya answered with a smile before pointing to Lee Chaolan, who jumped back in surprise. "I think it'll be you that he'll face: how about it, Scrumptious?"

Not willing to turn down a challenge from a beautiful woman that had given him such a complimentary nickname, Lee hid his nervousness with a charming smile while he walked up to the Monk until he was a few feet away from him. "I am the Silver Devil: the stars would turn cold sooner than I would back away from a duel of honor." The monk looked at Lee for a moment curiously, and then politely bowed his head before readying his shakujo in a fighting position. Lee returned the bow by placing his left arm across his waist and his right behind his back and pivoting his waist before assuming his own fighting stance.

"…I will make sure this match is fought fairly and justly," Yoshimitsu walked between the two fighters and stuck out his katana so that it was between the two of them. After a few seconds of silence, Yoshimitsu lowered his katana in a quick chop and shouted, "Begin!"

With his pride as a martial artist on the line, Lee lashed out at the Monk with a spinning roundhouse kick that would have struck the holy ghost in the head if not for him using his staff to parry the leg and then spin it around to strike Lee in the side of the head just as he was trying to do. Taking a few steps back while gripping where he had been struck, Lee barely had time to use his other arm to block a downwards whack that elicited a shout of pain from the silver-haired playboy.

Fighting through the pain, Lee's non-blocking arm shot out and successfully punched the Wisp in the cheek. The attack caused the Monk to retreat a couple of steps and rub where he had been hit, and this quick retreat gave Lee the opportunity to send him sprawling backwards with a Pulse Blast kick: an opportunity that Lee capitalized on and connected with.

_Finally: a Wisp that isn't completely impervious to my attacks, _Lee thought as he arrogantly gave his striking hand a shake before resuming his fighting stance while the Monk flipped back onto his feet. _Maybe I can actually have some fun with a Wisp for once instead of worrying about getting my head split open._

Altering his hold on his staff, the Monk used the end of his weapon to strike Lee in the side of the head on one side, and then swing it around to use the other end of the staff to hit the other side. With Lee stunned by the quick combination, the Monk knocked Lee into the air with an upwards blow to the chin and then sent him flying away with a quick baseball hit before spinning his staff around and returning to his normal defensive stance.

Lee gracefully landed on his feet and rubbed his chin where he had been hit. Once he made sure that nothing was broken, the silver-haired playboy quick advanced towards the Monk with such speed that he surprised the Wisp enough to send him sprawling to the ground with a running tackle. With the Monk pinned to the ground, Lee mounted his fallen opponent and brought down his fist on the holy ghost's face six times before dismounting him and kicking his fallen body with a low foot sweep.

The Monk quickly returned the favor by sweeping his staff across the ground while he was still on his back and tripping Lee, causing his foe to fall flat on his buttocks while the Monk rose back to his feet. As soon as Lee stood back up, the Monk spun around and struck Lee in the side of his neck with a backhanded swat before spinning back around and sending him sliding across the floor with a spear-like thrust.

_Ugh…it's a good thing I took Jun's advice and wore some light body armor under my shirt: that kind of thrust would have cracked open my chest, _Lee thought as he flipped back to his feet and dusted himself off. _He's pretty skilled, I'll give him that: let's see what else he knows…_

Carefully advancing with quick steps, Lee moved his head to the side to avoid a second thrust and spun around for a high roundhouse kick. The kick connected, and the Monk was sent crashing into the floor with his head shoulder bouncing off of the floor upon impact. Despite this, the Monk rolled away from Lee's attempted stomp and rose back up to try and strike Lee with a vertical slash. The attack connected, and Lee backed off accordingly.

However, Lee recovered quick enough to avoid any follow-up attacks, and grabbed onto the back of the Monk's head to ram his knee into the Wisp's face. The attack knocked the Monk a few feet into the air, and he touched down with his back to the floor. When Lee tried to follow up, however, the Monk's foot shot upwards and Lee in the stomach. This stunned Lee long enough for the Monk to send him sprawling with a spinning horizontal swat.

Chasing after the silver-haired playboy with quick and rapid steps, the Monk waited for Lee to get back to his feet and then ducked down to put his rod between Lee's legs. Confused by the tactic, Lee was unable to stop the monk from chopping him down like a tree: first the Monk struck Lee's left ankle, then his right, and finally bringing his rod upwards to hit Lee right in the bottom of his crotch.

Lee yelped and gripped his crotch in pain as he fell to the floor and groaned. "T-that's a dirty trick: whatever happened to fighting for honor," Lee complained while trying to work through the immense pain he had just been put in. "I was trying to make this as enjoyable as possible for both of us, but if you're going to be a killjoy…"

For several seconds, Lee waited for the monk to flog his fallen body like an unruly mule, but the flogging never came. When Lee regained enough control to stand back up, he noticed that the Monk was standing still with his staff in a relaxed position. "What's this? Were you waiting until I was ready?" Lee asked, to which the Monk simply nodded his head once before putting his readying his weapon. "You're not so bad, after all: just don't try that stunt again, or I'll make sure the coup de grace is as painful as it is fatal!"

With his groin still sore from the last attack, Lee held off on using his kicks and instead approached the Monk with his fists. Using quick lefts and rights, Lee saw most of his punches parried by the quick reflexes of the monk, but those that did connect where crucial hits that opened up an opportunity for Lee to spin around and land a fierce punch on the Monk's jaw.

Pressing onwards, Lee reared back and prepared to strike the Monk with a knockout blow, but the Monk recovered and blocked the punch with the top end of his staff before using the other end to hit Lee in the stomach. With the silver-haired playboy stunned momentarily, the Monk spun around and sent Lee onto his stomach with a strike to the back.

Doing a quick push-up, Lee returned to his feet and received a rapid series of pokes for his troubles, the last of which causing the silver-haired playboy to take a few steps back. Not quite done with his flurry, the Monk used his mastery of his weapon to spin the staff around like a turbine. The ends of the staff struck Lee again and again as if he were caught in the blades of a rotating fan, and when the spinning concluded, the Monk knocked Lee down with a vertical strike to the top of his head.

_Okay…that hurt a lot, _Lee thought as he rolled away to put some space between him and the Monk. _I think it's time we brought this to a climax._ With the throbbing in his groan subsiding, Lee waited for the Monk to come in close enough and ducked under the Monk's high swing to knock him into the air with a jumping knee. With his opponent airborne, Lee continued the assault with one of his trademark "juggles:" a pair of spinning kicks followed by a backflip that propelled him further upwards, and a Pulse Blast to send him crashing into the Buddha statue at the end of the room.

Not willing to give the Wisp any respite, Lee quickly advanced upon the Monk as soon as he was stumbling to get back on his feet in the wake of such a collision. As soon as the Monk looked in his opponent's direction, he was bombarded with a rapid series of kicks that rained down upon his torso. The flurry was concluded with a standing roundhouse kick that Lee emphasized with a piercing shout, knocking the Monk off of his feet and crashing onto the ground.

The Monk quickly got back onto his feet, and suddenly began mumbling a prayer. As he did so, his staff suddenly ignited and blue flame erupted from it, surprising Lee enough to cause him to jump back in surprise. After his prayer was finished, the Monk readied his burning weapon and motioned for Lee to come at him with a quick jolt of his head.

Complying with the Monk's request, Lee focused his silver-tinted ki and focused it into his left leg. Like a speeding car, the Monk came at Lee with his staff ready to strike him down. _It's do or die time, friend, _Lee thought as the Monk took to the air and lifted his staff high above his head. _It was fun while it lasted!_

Just as the staff was about to connect with Lee's skull, the silver-haired playboy jumped up and sent the Monk spiraling to the ground with a Silver Cyclone kick. The force of the attack knocked the straw hat off of the Wisp's head and revealed his features: a youthful face that was half-covered by a think bang of violet hair that came from the top of his head.

"Wait a second," Kazuya said after being silent for the entire bout. "I have seen that face before: that is the face of one of my old bodyguards, Takeshi Masamune…"

"It would seem that this ghost was an ancestor of my student Kenichi," Yoshimitsu concluded as the Monk's body began to dissipate in a hiss of blue smoke. The swordsman turned to the Monk and bowed his head in his direction. "May your spirit rest in peace, warrior: rest assured that your descendents are upholding your code of honor."

With a smile on his face, the Monk slowly bowed his head before picking up his hat and placing it back on his head. Once he did that, the Wisp sat down and waited for oblivion to embrace him as his entire form disappeared completely in a hiss of smoke. "Well, that was fun," Lee said after a moment of silence before turning to Nagalya, who had been watching the fight were her arms folded. "You know what? I'm in the mood for more: how about it, beautiful?"

"Sorry, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve," Nagalya said before lifting her hand and firing off a bolt of ki at the ceiling and blasting a decent-sized hole in it. Using her powerful legs, Nagalya jumped onto Lee's shoulders and then pushed off of them to jump through the hole. "I have to get ready for the next battle: later!"

"Let her go: if she does not wish to fight, then trying to force her to would be a waste of our time. She will show herself again soon, and we will be prepared to stop her just like always," Jun said when her three male associates prepared to chase after her. Turning her head to Yoshimitsu, Jun bowed her head graciously. "Thank you for helping us in our time in need, Yoshimitsu. We will remember this."

"I am simply doing my duty as a protector of the weak," Yoshimitsu returned the bow and then turned to Lee. "Lee Chaolan, I had my doubts about the Soul Calibur's decision for its next wielder, but you have proven your worth by defeating the monk honorably and bravely. I can rest easy knowing that it is in good hands."

"I still don't understand any of it, but I guess I'll just have to make due with the hand that fate has dealt me, Lee said with a shrug before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handful of blue shards attached by a string. Taking out another shard from his opposite pocket, Lee attached it to the string and then tied it around his neck. "Still, I'm curious as to the god that Nagalya was talking about."

"Unfortunately, I have no information regarding that: there are several evil beings that would use the evil Soul Edge to their liking, but I cannot think of any that would simply use it as a catalyst to create a minion," Yoshimitsu said before turning away and heading to the door. "I will look into this matter further and contact you when I find anything. Until then…may all your battles in the future end in victory!"


	13. Phantom

The Mishima Estate is not limited to one specific area, but numerous tracks of land peppered across the island of Kanto. This included, but was not limited to, the premises of the Mishima Mansion and the grounds of Mishima High School. Numerous factories and buildings of business also contributed to the cluster of space that the Zaibatsu occupied. To an observer, it would seem that the Zaibatsu, and not the local government, was the true king of this land.

Even in the mountainous area of the island, the hand of the Zaibatsu reached into the area to bestow upon Heihachi Mishima, the current head of the massive conglomerate a personal training ground to temper his fists into lethal weapons. The mountainous area would be ideal for such a regimen so that when he would hold the King of Iron Fist Tournament, he would be ready to crush the competition that would think themselves worthy of his title.

However, not all in this area was as lush as most of the terrain.

There was one area that was completely desolate: five acres of soot and ash that left the area completely flat with absolutely no sign of vegetation. This area was called Honmaru. A little over a year prior, this place was the location of the Mishima Fighting Karate private dojo: it was here that the warrior clan of Mishima practiced their legendary martial art. A temple of magnificent standards that was decorated with glorious statues of Buddha, it would clear the minds of anyone who would go there and meditate.

However, all of that was now in the past. When a squadron of Jack-4s self-destructed in a failed attempt to slay Heihachi, they laid waste to the sacred place and reduced it to rubble. The statues of the Buddha were melted under the intense heat of the explosion, while the wood and steel that made up the structure of the place of training was scattered in the winds or placed broken on the charred earth.

_This was also where the final battle of the fifth King of Iron Fist Tournament took place, _Kazuya thought bitterly as he and his two companions Jun and Lee stepped out of the transit station and into the streets of the small town that lay just outside the area called "Ground Zero." _It was here that I was robbed of my chance to face my grandfather, and it was here that Heihachi humiliated me for a third consecutive time._

The trio had come to Honmaru due to an interesting rumor they had heard the day before about a mysterious string of murders they had been occurring in the area. Normally such a rumor would not bother Kazuya or Lee, but Jun's instincts as a former detective told her that it might have something to do with the Wisps: the once-daily Wisp attacks had its pattern broke the day after they met Yoshimitsu at Zozoji temple, and the an uncomfortably peaceful Wednesday fell upon them until night fell and Heihachi informed them of a sudden rash of killings that the police were unable to solve.

The only clue they had was that all of the eyewitnesses accounted mentioned a figure in a dark brown trenchcoat and fedora was at the scene of the crime.

"It's possible that Nagalya has decided to move her operations elsewhere now that we have defeated her at every turn," Jun reasoned when she had informed her two companions of the killings. "If we are to prevent her from fulfilling her ambitions, we must investigate this and make sure whether or not it involves her."

_It could also be a trap: the people here on the outskirts of Honmaru have become overly superstitious since the explosion so I doubt they would interfere with any plot that Nagalya would hatch, _Kazuya thought while Lee called for a taxi to their hotel. _Then again, that plagiarist has proven to be quite cowardly thus far: it wouldn't be out of the question if she were trying to steer clear from us._

"What are you thinking about, Kazuya?" Jun asked, breaking Kazuya's train of thought as they walked over to where Lee was standing. "You seem like you're pondering something: are you wondering whether or not we are wasting our time here?"

"Of course: by leaving Tokyo we have left the city completely at the mercy of the Wisps. If we are wrong and Nagalya is not involved, then she probably would not hesitate to further her ambitions with us out of the way." Kazuya answered with a grimace while a taxi finally pulled up to where the three of them were standing. Putting their respective bags in the trunk and entering the taxi, Kazuya continued. "However, with no information or clues regarding her hideout, we have little choice but to follow this lead."

"I find it awfully ironic that the three of us are taking leads from Heihachi," Lee suddenly commented with his face facing the window of the vehicle they were riding in. "While I don't know if Jun has any history with him, that bastard has tricked us in the past. Now we're hanging onto his every word like he's our best informant."

"That is because Heihachi is naïve enough to trust us despite how much he may try to make fools of us," Kazuya replied with a smirk. "That will be his undoing, once G-Corporation falls and our alliance concludes. The question is, what position will we demote him to once I take the Zaibatsu and you become my second-in-command?"

"I would appreciate if you two didn't talk ill about him after he so generously informed us of this lead," Jun interjected before opening the bottle of water that had been in her hand and drinking its clear contents. "Heihachi has been a great help to us, and I would not be here now if not for his newly-found altruism."

"There is nothing altruistic about him: sooner or later he will decide that he no longer needs any of us and will try to dispose of us like tissue paper," Lee said with a more serious voice. "Of course, Kazuya and I will be getting rid of him long before he has the chance, so you don't have to worry about a thing!"

--

_Wow, I didn't think they would actually come, and it only took a day! What a bunch of morons!_

Nagalya laughed to herself as she recognized the ki signatures of her three enemies coming from a few miles away. After losing her two most trusted Wisps in the Geisha and the Monk, the pale-skinned sociopath headed for Honmaru to draw up a new battle plan: one that would surely neutralize the threat that the three interlopers posed.

While she may not have existed during the more important events that occurred at the Ground Zero that she stood at, Nagalya was well aware of its importance in the scheme of things. At the conclusion of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4, a being of great power awoke from his slumber and tried to bathe the earth in eternal darkness. However, the being's conscience kept him from fulfilling the task as he decided to sponsor the fifth King of Iron Fist Tournament to summon a warrior brave enough to stop him.

That warrior was an elderly Xing Yi Quan kung fu master by the name of Wang Jinrei. A man of peerless martial arts prowess in spite of his advanced age, Wang entered the tournament when the evil being sent him an invitation to the King of Iron Fist Tournament. The evil being happened to be a long-lost friend of Wang, and the old master entered the tournament to confirm if his friend was really back from the dead.

_As such, the old man Wang Jinrei turned into a machete and mowed down the thick mess of martial artists that stood in his way, _Nagalya muttered as she reached down and picked up a handful of gray ash. _It was on these very grounds that his friendship was put to the test: a test that he failed._

When Wang did finally get to the final stage of the tournament, he was horrified to see what his old friend had become. He tried his best to fulfill the evil being's death wish, using all of his martial art skills to keep from getting pulverized by the evil being's immense powers. However, even though he had the opportunity to do so, Wang could not bring himself to slay his old friend.

As such, the evil being's power became so great that he overloaded and blasted off into the sky in a massive pillar of light. When the dust cleared, it was as if he had left the plane of existence. However, Wang had a feeling the evil being was not completely gone, and he ignored his role as the new King of the Iron Fists to travel the world and find a way to end the curse that had turned his friend into a monster.

_It's probably a good thing that he hasn't been seen for over a year, _Nagalya thought as she let the ash blow away in the wind. _If someone like that got their hands on one of the shards, it would make my duty a lot tougher than it already is._

"_My servant…what are you doing?"_

With a dark and foreboding voice roaring in her mind, Nagalya ended her daydream and paid attention. "My master…you finally speak to me again," she said out loud, delighted that her lord would grace her with words. "I was starting to wonder if you had fallen back to sleep due to lack of energy."

"_Now that I am awake, it is only a matter of time before I leave my chamber and cleanse this world of life," _the voice bellowed, causing Nagalya to shiver in both fear and joy. _"However, I cannot leave my chamber until you have supplied me with enough despair and death: as my priestess, you have a great duty to fulfill."_

"Of course, master, and I have been working hard to fulfill your wishes," Nagalya replied as she took her fedora off and wiped the sweat from her brow. "However, there have been people that have been interfering with my work. Otherwise you would have been broken free by now."

"_I am aware of the three specks of flesh that have thrown themselves into the chaos that you have created for me, but that is no excuse,"_ the voice roared in Nagalya's mind, forcing her to get on to her knees and scream in pain. _"Perhaps I was foolish to allow Wisps to usher in my awakening: maybe I should simply send you to finish the preparations alone!"_

"Please, master, trust in the Wisps," Nagalya shouted out before crying out in pain some more. "There are still some left that have the ability to take down the interlopers and complete your awakening! That's actually why I'm here now rather than back in the city of Tokyo where human sin is thickest!"

After a few seconds of agony, Nagalya was relieved of her pain and she let out long and tired breaths. _"Continue, my priestess: tell me about your plan…"_

"…there is one Wisp that has the ability to copy and improve upon any one person, so long as he can sniff the aura of that person," Nagalya said after she regained her composure. Standing up, a thin smile formed on her face as she continued to explain herself. "There was an being of great power that resided here a little over a year ago: someone who not only possessed the Devil Gene, but improved upon it."

"_I see: you intend to use this Wisp to dispatch the interlopers and then take their lives."_

"Something like that…but there is one that I wish to keep for myself," Nagalya nodded her head while she knelt back down and ran her fingers through the ash once again. "The one known as Lee Chaolan…I was wondering if I could spare him and make him mine."

"_If you stop wasting time and release me sooner rather than later, then I will consider it," _the voice replied while Nagalya's smile grew wider. _"I will allow you to postpone my full awakening just this once: make doubly sure that you do not fail me, priestess. I was the one that gave you life, and I still have enough power to take it away."_

With her master's voice gone, Nagalya let out a sigh and dusted off her hands. That was the first time she had heard her master's voice since she was charged with recruiting the Wisp specters to their noble cause of total annihilation. Though her master's body was locked up in a land far away from Japan, his consciousness was omnipresent and could speak to Nagalya whenever he wanted and wherever he wanted.

_My plot is so amazing that even my master has broken his silence to speak to me, _she thought happily while she pulled out a watch from her trenchcoat and looked at the time. _If he lets me keep Scrumptious, then all of the scolding I receive will be well worth it!_

Even though Lee Chaolan was the first person to actually defeat a Wisp when Nagalya officially began her mission, the pale-skinned sociopath quickly became infatuated with his handsome features and graceful technique. He was funny, he was strong, and he had an aura of simple-mindedness that she found adorable. While Lee may have been born, as opposed to being created, Nagalya could not deny her attraction to him.

_I see the look of lust on his face whenever he looks at me, _she thought as she turned around to see a lone taxi steadily approach her position in the distance. _If he wants to get with me despite the danger I pose to his species, then who am I to stop him. I'll give him pleasure like he's never imagined…right after a huge helping of unbearable agony!_

--

"Looks like I was right: it was a trap, after all," Kazuya said with a smirk as the taxi that he, Jun, and Lee were sitting drove farther and farther off-course. They passed their inn minutes ago, and they were now nearing the very center of the infamous "Ground Zero" where the Mishima Karate Dojo once stood. When Jun asked the driver what was going on, she was met with silence and an absent aura that only meant Nagalya was controlling him.

The driver suddenly stopped the car and removed the key from the ignition. "Took you long enough to stop," Lee said with a sneer. "Tell me, zombie: why did you bring us all the way out here?" Without saying a word, the driver left the car to open up Lee's door like a brain dead butler: an analogy further emphasized by how the driver extended his hand so as to show the silver-haired playboy the way out. "Well, at least you know greatness when you see it…"

Once the trio emptied out of the vehicle, the driver pointed north where someone was standing. Even though they were too far away to make out any distinguishable features, they had a pretty good idea who it was. "I suppose we should thank you for taking us this far: we would have had a hard time finding her ourselves," Jun said, bowing her head politely to the driver even though he could not acknowledge it. "Hopefully we will be able to foil her yet again so you do not have to be in this state…"

With that greeting, the driver suddenly blinked and let out a groan. "What's going on here?" he muttered before turning around and scanning his surrounding. "How did I get here? The last thing I remember I was driving near the main transit station and now I'm here at Ground Zero!"

"You brought us here because we asked you to," Kazuya answered before telling a blatant lie to make the driver leave quicker. Pulling a few bills out of his pocket, the gray-haired Mishima put them in the driver's chest pocket and continued. "Here is the charge: take out our bags from your trunk and leave us in peace."

After complying with Kazuya's command disguised as a request, the driver turned around and headed back for the town, leaving the trio alone with who they believed to be Nagalya standing some two hundred yards away. _It's interesting that she would lure us to this particular locale, _Kazuya thought as the trio left their bags behind and started walking towards what they hoped to be the maniacal succubus. _I have some history with this place._

Near the end of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, Heihachi and Kazuya clashed to see who would advance further in the tournament to face Jinpachi Mishima. Kazuya had only known Jinpachi for a very brief time in his life, but he was someone that he had held in the highest regard: a warrior who treated him with kindness when he was young, before he was thrown off a cliff. It would have been a great honor to face him in combat.

However, Heihachi would be the one to defeat Kazuya and deny him the chance to see his grandfather one last time. _To further add insult to injury, Heihachi wound up losing to Wang Jinrei: if I had advanced, things would have been different. _Kazuya thought with a sneer as he clenched his fist. _I would have given Jinpachi the death he deserved, and gratefully take his place as the leader of the Mishima Zaibatsu: I will never forgive Hiehachi of robbing me of that chance._

"I can sense your frustration: something is bothering you," Jun said, breaking Kazuya's train of thought and causing him to open his fist. "I have read about the history of this place, and how this was where you lost to Heihachi in the fifth King of Iron Fist Tournament. Does coming back here upset you?"

"This was also the place where G-Corporation betrayed me and tried to dispose of me," Kazuya answered with a growl. "I have several memories of this place, and very few of them, if any, are good ones. Then again, it is rare that I have memories that would cause me to smile fondly upon thinking about them."

As Kazuya finished saying that, a cool breeze suddenly blew on the faces of the three fighters. "The air just changed," Lee said as the three of them quickened their pace to go to where Nagalya was standing. "Something is up: I can feel it in my bones."

The breeze soon turned into a strong wind, kicking up soot and ash and blowing into the their faces. "She's trying to intimidate us," Kazuya said while the three of them covered their faces to protect themselves from the dusty debris. "Don't let up: continue forward and show her that we are her end!"

After a couple of minutes of struggling against the now-buffeting winds, the trio were finally face-to-face with their adversary, whose trenchcoat was buttoned up tight to protect her from the raging gusts. "What are you scheming, Nagalya?" Jun shouted through the howling winds. "The air around us has become violent: what are you planning to do?"

"This is an experiment I'm conducting," Nagalya shouted back before pointing to a thin tornado that was forming several meters away. "You see, you guys have taken out every Wisp I've thrown at you, so I decided the best way to take you down is to lure you out here where evil energy still lingers!"

"What are you talking about," Kazuya interjected while he pulled out a hankerchief and put it over his nose and mouth. "Do you mean to tell me that you brought us out here just to have a duel? What nonsense: you could have simply come to our house and knocked. I would have been happy to teach you a lesson!"

With that in mind, Kazuya tossed down his handkerchief and leapt at Nagalya with a Flying Slash Kick. Using her lighting-quick reflexes, Nagalya blocked the attack and countered with a backflip kick that knocked this sinister karateka high into the air: so high that Nagalya was able to connect with a second backflip while her foe was still airborne.

With his adopted brother crashing into the ground a few feet away from where he was standing, Lee lashed out at their mutual foe with a torpedo-like Silver Sting kick. This attack managed to connect, and it knocked down Nagalya like a bowling pin. Rolling away so as to put some space in between her and Lee, Nagalya assumed a fighting stance and swatted away Lee's fist like flies. After parrying six punches, the dragon succubus attempted one of her own: a devastating half-knuckle blow that sent Lee screeching across the ground.

Next up was Jun, who instead waited for Nagalya to come to her with a flying kick. Using her mastery of self-defense to her advantage, Jun caught Nagalya's foot while she was still in mid-air and dragged her to the ground hard while twisting her ankle. Nagalya let out a shout of pain as she shook her leg violently to break free of Jun's ankle lock. When she finally managed to do so, Nagalya stood back up and sent Jun sprawling with a standing side kick.

Unfortunately for her, Kazuya was right there waiting for her to lower her leg, and he punished her for her attack on him earlier with a powerful gut punch that was so immense that it lifted her into the air enough punch her away with his other hand. Nagalya landed on her hands and flipped back onto her feet gracefully, only for Lee to grab her from behind and drive her beautiful face into the dirt with a Bulldog throw.

Picking her off of the ground, Jun lifted Nagalya over her head and then slammed her back to the ground on the top of her head. The pale-skinned sociopath let out a cry of pain before Jun tossed her away with a powerful swing, right into Kazuya's Thunder Godfist. "If you think you can take on all of us by yourself, you are even more foolish than I thought you were," Kazuya said as Nagalya landed flat on her back while the trio lined up next to one another and assumed their fighting stance. "What madness possessed you into thinking that you were a match for us alone?"

"Actually, your real opponent will be here shortly," Nagalya said as she stood back up and pulled out a pocket watch and lifted up her hand with all of her fingers outstretched. After a few seconds of silence, the fingers began counting down along with Nagalya. "5…4…3…2…1!"

As soon as Nagalya closed her fist, blue fire erupted from the ground to separate her from her foes. The sky above them went from sunny and clear to dark and cloudy within seconds after the blue fire emerged, and this caused more than a little discomfort for the trio of Lee, Kazuya, and Jun. _What is the world is this? _Kazuya thought while the geyser of flame lowered and started to take the humanoid form. _Is this another Wisp? I have not felt an aura this powerful since Ryoku's defeat! _

When the flames took form, however, Kazuya's eyes widened in surprise: it was someone who was quite familiar to him.

The being was a little less than seven feet in height, with muscles bulging from every part of his dark blue body. His arms were thick like logs, and twin spikes protruded from each elbow with sharp claws coming from each finger. His legs were even thicker, covered by tattered baggy brown karate pants that were torn just under his knees and tied together with a flowing white sash around the waist. Perhaps the most frightening features to Jun and Lee were the large, fanged mouth that that was situated right where his stomach would be and two crystal-like blades coming out of the shoulder blades.

What bothered Kazuya the most, however, was the being's face: the bald-headed menace had bushy white eyebrows, and a think beard that grew upwards in two stocks like a "v". His eyes were fiery red, and his voice echoed like thunder. "It can't be," Kazuya said with a whisper as the being's dark blue aura surrounded his body. "You are supposed to be dead!"

"I see you recognize the form the Phantom Wisp has taken," Nagalya said with a smile as the being folded his monstrous arms. "You see, he has the unique ability of taking on all of the powers and memories of a person just by absorbing his or her aura, and the aura of this particular fellow was still lingering here at Ground Zero." The dragon succubus bent down and put her fedora back on her head. "You could call him a clone, if you so desire: the Phantom likes to become the role he plays."

"Kazuya, you seem so fearful: I have never seen you like this," Jun said as Kazuya wiped the sweat from his brow despite the powerful winds cooling his face. "Who is this creature that disturbs you so much?"

"I'm kind of curious about that, too" Lee said while backing away from the approaching Wisp. "Just who the hell is this guy?"

Regaining his composure, Kazuya resumed his fighting stance and prepared for combat. "This pretender has taken the form of my grandfather, Jinpachi Mishima. However, I will soon put an end to this charade! I shall strike him down, and prove what true greatness really is!"


	14. Zombie

"Did you just call him 'Jinpachi'?" Lee asked, not quite entirely sure what he just heard. "How the heck are we supposed to deal with **him!?"**

Upon arriving in the infamous Honmaru area, Kazuya, Lee, and Jun were immediately taken to the Ground Zero that had acted as the final stage for the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5 that was held by Jinpachi Mishima. Using her knowledge of the land to her advantage, Nagalya lured the trio to the area so that she could dispose of them with her latest minion: the Phantom Wisp.

What made this Wisp different from the others, however, was that it could take the form of any person and assume all of their powers and memories: the aura of Jinpachi Mishima still lingered like a noxious fume, and this gave the Phantom enough material to become a deadly clone. With Nagalya watching gleefully, the Phantom waited patiently for his victims to try and attack him.

"There is no 'we,' Chaolan," Kazuya said coldly as he stepped forward and assumed his fighting stance. "I shall be the one to deal with this pretender. If you interfere, I will make sure you will regret it."

"Kazuya, please don't do anything foolhardy," Jun interjected, gently placing a hand of Kazuya's shoulder. "If Nagalya went through all of this trouble just to lure us out here to fight this Wisp, then there is a high probability that it is special. We should try attacking him together, and gauge his strength that way."

"Your concern is noted, but ignored," Kazuya replied, turning his shoulder away from Jun and assumed a fighting stance. "Jinpachi was the sponsor of the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5: I was denied the chance to face him thanks to Heihachi's interference, and now I have been granted a second opportunity. Do not interfere, or there will be consequences."

"I understand how you feel, Kazuya, but if this Wisp truly has copied all of his powers, and if what I read about him is true…" Jun said before pausing and thinking about the repercussions of fighting such a creature alone would bring about. After regaining her composure, Jun finished her sentence, "…then it's possible that he might be too much, even for you."

"Do not underestimate me, Jun: I know what I am doing," Kazuya growled, annoyed at Jun's ignorance of his strength. "Besides, was it not you who wanted to face your father alone when he threatened to kill those close to you? I hate hypocrisy…"

"Are you morons done chatting about who wants to die first?" Nagalya shouted out with impatience. "Hurry up before I get even more bored than I already am!"

The Cold-blooded Prince's glare narrowed as the Phantom stepped forward and unfolded his arms to prepare for combat. Slowly lifting his finger and pointing it at his opponent, the Phantom allowed himself a smirk before clenching his fist and charging towards Kazuya. "Prepare yourself, pretender," Kazuya said with his trademark smirk while Jun and Lee backed away. "I shall be your escort to Hell!"

Attacking first, Kazuya shot out his fist in an attempt to strike the Phantom in his bearded face. However, the Phantom suddenly disappeared in a flash of blue flame, leaving Kazuya to hit nothing but air. He wouldn't have to look far, however, as he felt a pair of thick arms wrap around him in a monstrous embrace and lift him high into the air with a twenty-foot vertical leap. When the two combatants came back down, Kazuya's back was driven into the Phantom's knee for a devastating jumping backbreaker.

Not quite done with what would have been his grandson had he been the person he was imitating, the Phantom pushed down on Kazuya's chest and tried to break him over his knee like a wishbone. However, the Cold-Blooded Prince's leg shot up and struck the monster in the head with a quick kick that forced the Phantom to relinquish him hold on him. _It would seem that the pretender isn't all show, _Kazuya thought while he backed away and rubbed his back. _I should probably be careful._

Being careful, however, would not be enough to take the behemoth down, as Kazuya soon learned when he dodged a straight punch to counter with one of his own. Even though the attack sent the Phantom flying back a few meters, he recovered quickly and grabbed Kazuya by the leg when the gray-haired Mishima attempted a Flying Slash kick. The Phantom reared back with Kazuya's leg in his grip and threw him into the ground like an angry child tossing a toy.

"Hmph! Nothing but brute force," Kazuya said with a scoff as he flipped back onto his feet and resumed his fighting stance. "If you are truly who are imitating, then you will have to do a lot better than that to defeat me!" Ducking under an upwards palm thrust that would have cracked his jaw, Kazuya rose back up and launched the Phantom several feet into the air with a crackling Electric Wind Godfist, which was immediately followed with a standing roundhouse that sent the Wisp spiraling away.

Using agility and grace that belied his bulky physique, the Phantom landed on his hands and flipped back to his feet just in time to jump away from Kazuya's leaping Thunder Godfist, and then slingshotted himself back into his original position to send Kazuya sprawling with a powerful elbow thrust.

Quickly returning to his feet, Kazuya's eyes widened in surprise as the Phantom's fist suddenly flew right into his face, and that was immediately followed by a second face punch that knocked Kazuya's away like a punching bag flying off of its hinges. _So far these seem to be pretty basic attacks, _Kazuya mumbled while he licked the blood dripping from his nose and landed on his feet. _Perhaps I was worrying too much: it seems that the most he has in common with Grandpa is his appearance. _

Breaking Kazuya's train of thought, the Phantom grabbed onto the Cold-Blooded Prince's torso and attempted to lift him off the ground, but Kazuya resisted and broke away from the hold and reversed it. With his hand around the Phantom's massive throat, Kazuya rammed his head into his opponent's head and sent him crashing into the ground with a Stonehead grapple. "You are pathetic," Kazuya growled as he lifted his foot and prepared to bring it down on the monster's stomach. "You assume the form of my grandfather, yet you bring none of his prowess to the battlefield! You should thankful that I am about to end your existence!"

Just as he was about to bring his foot down, however, Kazuya was suddenly stunned when the Phantom shot out his palm in the Mishima-ryu practitioner's direction. Even though the palm did not hit him, it sent out a shockwave that caused Kazuya's to back away slowly as if he was under a spell. _What is this? I can barely move, _Kazuya thought as he struggled to regain control of himself. _What did he do to me?_

The effects of the shockwaves still lingered even as the Phantom stood back up and let loose a sinister laugh that echoed through the air. Grabbing onto Kazuya's prone body, the Phantom lifted him off the ground and took to the air with the Cold-Blooded Prince upside-down in his arms. After a mid-air spin, the two of them landed hard on the charred earth with Kazuya's dropped on his head while the Phantom landed in a sitting position.

Kazuya groaned as he gripped his head in pain and struggled to get back to his feet in the wake of such an attack. _Maybe I should not have underestimated him, _Kazuya throught through a throbbing pain that had just developed in his head. _I have no idea what he did that caused me to back off my assault, but whatever it was had enough power to stun me long enough for one of his holds!_

Fighting off the dizziness to avoid another attempted grapple, Kazuya's leg shot upwards to hit the Phantom in the chin with a snapping kick that was immediately followed by a quick jab and an impaling knee that hit the Phantom right in the tooth of the mouth situated where his stomach would be. The Phantom gripped the mouth and knelt down slightly, enough for Kazuya to send him flying with a Thunder Godfist.

The Phantom landed on his feet and looked up to see Kazuya running after him, but he rose back up to send Kazuya flying away with a Thunder Godfist of his own: a devastating leaping uppercut whose impact was heard even from where Lee, Jun, and Nagalya were standing. "Oooh, that has to hurt," Nagalya said with sadistic glee as she watched Kazuya crash into the ground while the Phantom ran after him. "What's the matter, Kazuya? I thought you were going to end his existence."

As soon as Kazuya stood back up, he was immediately taken down with a leaping pounce that nearly knocked the wind out of him. With the Cold-Blooded Prince pinned underneath the massive form of the Phantom, the Wisp lifted his fist and brought it down on Kazuya's bloodied face five times. After that fifth punch, the Phantom stood up and lifted Kazuya off the ground by his head.

Not in the mood for anything fancy, Kazuya spit a wad of bloody saliva into the monster's eye, causing him to let go of him and cover his face. Seeing his opportunity, Kazuya used all of his impressive strength to thrust his fist into the monster's chest. The attack would have split open the chest of anyone else, but the monster only took a few steps back and lowered one his clawed hands to massage the stricken area before firing off another invisible wave of paralysis at Kazuya.

Charging his ki with black electricity surrounding his body, the Phantom launched Kazuya high into the air with a sudden Electric Wind Godfist. With his foe airborne, the Phantom continued the assault with a high upwards punch, followed by a second punch before both hands came together to send Kazuya flying away with twin battering ram-like blows.

_First he used the Thunder Godfist, and then an Electric Wind Godfist, _Kazuya thought bitterly before coughing up blood in the wake of the Phantom's knee lift as soon as he stood back up. _It's worse than I originally thought: he truly is Grandpa's clone. I did not prepare for a battle this intense, and I'm losing because of it! _

_No…I can't think like that, _Kazuya grit his teeth in frustration and let loose a flurry of blows on the Phantom: a high kick, a chest punch, a low kick, and a left hook that sent the Phantom spiraling away. _If I think like that, this will have all been for nothing. I will have died here, and that plagiarist Nagalya will have run my name through the mud! _Standing over the imposter's body, Kazuya charged his fist and prepared to deliver a killing blow._ I must save face!_

Unfortunately, Kazuya was forced to let go of his fist in the wake of his midsection being impaled by four clawed fingers. The Cold-blooded Prince drooled blood as the Phantom stood back up and let Kazuya stand there, stunned by the sudden piercing. After letting out another maniacal laugh, the Phantom lifted his foot and pushed Kazuya off of his hand and onto the ground.

_My Devil Gene is keeping me from bleeding to death, but I'm going to need time to heal this wound, _Kazuya thought as he tried to get back onto his feet, only to fall onto one hand while his other gripped his stomach. _Unfortunately, I do not think the pretender is going to wait. _Looking up to see the monster's belly mouth burn furiously, Kazuya smiled grimly. _I wonder…was this going to be the end result if I had fought Grandpa in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 5?_

As Kazuya waited for fiery destruction to embrace him, he was saved from such a fate by Lee running up to the monster and ramming his shoulder into him to ruin the Phantom's aim and cause the massive fireball that erupted from his stomach to go off-course and fly by Kazuya's left side harmlessly. _What is he doing? I thought I told him to stay out of it!_

The silver-haired playboy would pay for his foolishness quickly, however, as the Phantom grabbed Lee by the throat and bombarded him with black electricity while his fiery blue aura burned ever brighter. Lee screamed in agony as energy pure and untamed crackled across his body, threatening to fry him like an insect in a bug zapper.

Just when it seemed that death had come to claim Lee, Jun jumped up from behind and grabbed onto to pull him downwards, driving her knees into his back in the process. While this may have forced him drop Lee, it did not do Jun as favors as the Phantom quickly recovered and used another paralyzing shockwave to stun the former detective and render her immobile.

_Idiots, _Kazuya growled as he stood back up and ran towards "Jinpachi" with his hand raised despite the severe bleeding in his midsection. _I cannot tell which is more moronic: their disregard for my orders, or the fact that I am trying to save them from the consequences of doing so!_

With the monster's stomach burning furiously, Kazuya did have time for anything fancy: he simply tackled the paralyzed Jun to the ground so that the both of them were flat on their stomachs. The massive fireball that burst from the stomach-mouth flew above their heads and barely missed them, and Kazuya let out a sigh of relief before turning Jun around and scolding her. "What madness possessed you to interfere!? I gave you a very specific order: are you intending to betray me!?"

"Of…course not, Kazuya," Jun whispered as the paralysis wore off. "I was simply fulfilling my personal vow to save you from disaster. You were in peril, so I convinced Lee to interfere."

"Be that as it may, I told you not to get involved," Kazuya growled before looking up to see the Phantom slowly walk towards them, as if he had all the time in the world. "How would you have liked it if I interfered with your battle with your father Ryoku? Would you not be annoyed?"

"But you did interfere," Jun replied with a smile as she looked up to follow Kazuya's gaze. "You stepped in when my father resorted to trickery to try and gain the upper hand. I was not annoyed nor angered by this…in fact, I was happy that you did."

"Grrr…point taken, I suppose," Kazuya reluctantly agreed before standing back up and helping Jun to return to her feet. With the wound in his mid-section almost completely closed now, the gray-haired Mishima raised his fists and resumed his fighting stance while Jun took a few steps back and assumed her own stance. "Very well: interfere if you must, but don't blame me if you get killed."

Before either of them could attack, however, the Phantom suddenly stopped in his tracks and let out a pained howl as if he had been struck by something. The Phantom gripped his head in pain and continued to roar in agony while Kazuya and Jun stood confused. When the roaring refused to subside, Kazuya and Jun took the opportunity to leap at the Phantom with simultaneous running jump kicks. The combined attacks knocked the Phantom down to the ground, still gripping his head in pain.

"Something is wrong with him, Kazuya," Jun said while they watched the Phantom writhe. "He had us at his mercy, and yet he hesitated due to this head trauma he seems to be experiencing. Do you think this is going to work to our advantage?"

"I do not know what is going on, either," Kazuya answered while he folded his arms and smiled. "However, I cannot say that I am not enjoying watching him squirm…"

"K-Kazuya…"

Upon hearing the creature speak, Kazuya's eyes widened as the Phantom slowly stood back up and continued to speak. "Kazuya…my beloved grandson. Why are you here?"

"Impossible," Kazuya whispered before raising his voice in defiance. "You are trying to trick me, aren't you Wisp!? If you think you are going to fool me simply by assuming Grandpa's voice, then you are gravely mistaken!" Charging the Phantom with his fist raised, Kazuya roared while his body crackled with blue electricity. When he tried to take off the monster's head with a punch, however, the Phantom did nothing to stop him, taking the full impact of the attack that had him crumpling down like a collapsing building.

"Kazuya," the monster repeated as he struggled for air. "I see that you have grown into a strong fighter indeed." With that statement, the Cold-Blooded Prince stopped his assault and allowed the Phantom to get back up and smile grimly. "I thought that I had met my end, but it would seem that someone has decided to bring me back to this damnable Honmaru."

_What is the world is happening? It's as if this pretender has become who he is trying to be, _Kazuya thought as he lowered his fists and stared at the monster curiously. _Either he is trying to trick me, or he has lost control of himself. Ironically, this was one of the fears I had when I created the Doppelganger: it would be possible that it would literally become the person it mimicked had it absorbed enough of their victim's memories._

"Excuse me," Jun interjected while Kazuya continued to remain silent. "Are you…Jinpachi Mishima?"

"Yes," the monster nodded his head and lifted his mutated arm towards the former detective. "But…who are you?"

"My name is Jun Kazama," she said with a solemn voice. "I am the mother of your great-grandchildren."

"I see," Jinpachi said with a smile before suddenly moaning in pain and placing on hand on the side of his bald head. "I am happy to hear that my Kazuya found happiness, after all: I am so proud of you, my grandson."

"Are you truly my grandfather?" Kazuya said after a moment of silence. "Not two minutes ago you tried to kill me with not a word coming out of your mouth save for a mocking laughter. How do I know that this is not a trick?"

Before "Jinpachi" could answer, he once again started to roar in agony and grip his head in pain. "Kazuya…you must kill me," the Phantom shouted before assuming his fighting stance yet again. "I do not know what sort of trickery brought me back here, but there is a great evil within me that has to be extinguished! Kill me quickly, and send me back to the afterlife where I should have gone years ago!"

"I see: you are asking me to put you out of your misery," Kazuya said quietly while he lowered his head. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the Cold-Blooded Prince nodded his head and tightened his fingerless red gloves. "Very well, Grandpa: I shall see you again sometime."

Letting out a menacing roar, Kazuya dashed towards the Phantom with quick steps before punching him right in the sternum with a left cross that was immediately followed with a right straight that knocked the bigger creature down. Running after the Phantom with murderous intent, Kazuya trampled his grandfather's clone underfoot and turned around to watch him stand back up again.

Continuing his assault, Kazuya grabbed onto the Phantom's massive wrist and then lifted his foot to kick him in the face with a slapping motion, and then brought his leg other way to hit him again in a "backslap" and send the pretender crashing into the ground with his twin "Bitch Kicks." Once that was finished, Kazuya reared back and once again sent the Phantom to the ground with a successful Flying Slash kick.

_I see what he's doing now: he's keeping the Wisp consciousness from taking over, so I can land in all the hits I need to defeat him. _Kazuya thought while he knocked the Phantom into the air with a vertical elbow strike: his innovated Demon Cutter. _I almost feel like I am being robbed of a true victory, but I will not stand by and let Grandpa's wish be squandered. _Continuing the assault in midair, Kazuya punched the prone body with a quick right, and then concluded the assault with a bouncing fist, a high kick, and a powerful straight that sent the Phantom flying face-first into the ground.

However, the monster started to laugh again, alerting Kazuya that he was beginning to regain control of himself. _Looks like it's time to end this, _he mumbled as his entire body crackled with power while he lowered his body and built rotational velocity. Like a human top, Kazuya made his way towards the Phantom as his stomach-mouth was preparing to fire off another lethal blast of flame. Using all of his mighty strength, Kazuya sent the Phantom flying backwards with a Lightning Screw Godfist, just a microsecond before the Wisp's blast erupted from his stomach and shot into the air.

Letting out deep, and tired breaths, Kazuya slowly walked towards the Phantom's fallen body and knelt down beside him. For the few seconds that followed, he said nothing as Jun walked up beside him and asked one pressing question, "Is it over, Kazuya? Have you honored his wish?"

Before Kazuya could answer, the Phantom's hand suddenly sprang to life and wrapped around the Cold-Blooded Prince's throat. The Wisp laughed maniacally as his fiery eyes burned with rage and evil while it attempted to drain the life out of his "grandson" as a last-ditch effort. _He's sapping my energy, _Kazuya thought bitterly before raising his hand and plunging it into the Phantom's stomach-mouth. _What a parasite! This is not Grandpa after all: it is a slimy, disgusting zombie that needs to be exterminated!_

With unmatched fury, Kazuya let out a primal shout as he grabbed onto the tongue of the second mouth and ripped it out, eliciting a mess of blue smoke and a roar of agony from the Phantom. Tossing the massive tongue aside as it fizzled away, Kazuya's crackling fist pounded away at the monster's chest again and again. "Pretender…vermin," Kazuya roared while his fists finally cracked open the Phantom's chest cavity like an egg. "Do you see it: the deepest circle of hell that awaits you!?"

Reaching into the hole and grabbing what he believed to be his heart, Kazuya poured every ounce of his ki into the hand of he was using and electrocuted the heart like a human defibrillator. This caused the Phantom to spasm uncontrollably while blue smoke came out of his mouth, ears, and nose. After a good twenty seconds of this, Kazuya pulled the heart out and held it up for Jun to see: it was an ugly beating organ that was as big as her head. She wouldn't have to look at it long, however, as it disappeared in a puff of smoke while the Phantom's body turned to dust and blew away in the wind.

The buffeting winds and storm clouds that had built up prior to the Phantom's arrival died down almost immediately after the Phantom's demise, but Jun was still blown away by Kazuya's sudden savagery. She did not say anything: she just stared at Kazuya for a long time, wondering about what she could do to ease the rage he was in as he panted like a rabid animal.

Suddenly, Kazuya's head darted around and scanned the area like the rabid animal he was imitating. "Nagalya," the Cold-Blooded Prince roared as he stood back up and searched for the woman that had toyed with his emotions. "Come out of hiding and face me, harlot! Are you afraid of what I am going to do to you once I find you!?"

"Kazuya…she is gone," Jun said, hanging her head low. "I should have chased after her, but I was too distracted by your fight. She retreated as soon as Lee attacked the Phantom…"

After a few extra seconds of rabid panting, Kazuya took a deep breath and calmly dusted himself off while his mutated eye glowed its two colors of neon blue and bright red. "Disgusting coward: we shall deal with her next time," he muttered as he turned to his left to watch Lee slowly get back to his feet. "At least we know that if we all work together, we can defeat her. Without her Wisps, she is an above-average fighter at best."

Lee moaned as he walked over to Kazuya and Jun, his head still ringing from the near-electrocution he suffered earlier. "Hey everyone…how much did I miss?"

--

_I think I lost them, _Nagalya thought as she skid to a halt and caught her breath. As soon as she saw Lee and Jun interfere, she had a gut feeling that the mighty Phantom Wisp would fail just like the rest of his brethren, and made a hasty retreat as soon as her nemeses were distracted. _This is getting really old, really fast: my master will not be pleased if this keeps up._

_Furthermore, I got my butt kicked back there, _she added with a frown forming across her face as she finally left the massive Ground Zero area and began walking towards the transit station in the neighboring town that would take her to Tokyo. _I thought my martial art skills were better than that, but it seems that I have to train more._

As she was contemplating her failure, a small blue flame appeared in front of her. Identifying it as a Wisp, Nagalya brushed it away and continued walking. "Go away: I'm not the mood to play around right now. One of your brothers just got taken down and I'm not happy about it."

Instead of complying with its leader's request, the blue flame suddenly plunged itself into the eye ornament on Nagalya's choker, and she let out a painful scream as a result. _What is it doing: it's like it's invading my body, _she thought as she frantically focused her ki and tried to expel the foreign spirit. _Are the Wisps fed up with my leadership? Are they backing out of their agreement to help my master roam free?_

An instant later, however, the flame suddenly left the ornament and gave Nagalya reprieve. "W-what a rush," she said out loud as she looked up at the flame to see that it was a bit bigger now. Staring it silently for a few seconds, a thin smile formed on her beautiful face. "I think I know what you did, but you do you think my power is going to help you win?"

Hearing the formless Wisp's answer with her telepathy, Nagalya gently closed her hand around the Wisp and let it become warm in her hand before letting it go and allowing it to follow her. "Let's go, friend: we have only a short time before the end of their silly resistance, and the beginning of the age of our god!"


	15. Nightmare

Upon returning from their trip to Honmaru, Kazuya, Jun and Lee went back to their home exhausted from their bout with the Phantom Wisp. While the other Wisps they were far from pushovers, the Phantom was in a class of his own: if not for Kazuya's supernatural strength and the Wisp's own flaws becoming apparent, the three of them might have met their end in the charred area known as "Ground Zero."

However, the trio knew that things were only going to get worse instead of better. Since the Wisps first made themselves known almost two weeks before, the specters had become progressively stronger, and there was no real reason to believe that the Phantom would be the worst of them. Somehow, their enemy Nagalya would find a way to conjure up a new Wisp even more powerful than the Phantom, and the trio would have to employ everything at their disposal to neutralize that Wisp.

Fortunately, the trio did have some reason to smile: while the Wisps were as fearsome as they were numerous, their leader Nagalya was not completely infallible. Prior to Kazuya's fatal duel with the Phantom, the trio engaged in fisticuffs with the psychotic succubus. Although she was not exactly a pushover in the department of hand-to-hand combat, the three of them did manage to overpower her if only for a few moments. Sooner or later, she would be forced to enter the fray herself, and that was when the trio would end their war with her and her minions.

_This is assuming that she wasn't holding back during the few seconds we ganged up on her, _Lee mumbled as he stared into the ceiling from the couch he was sitting at. _If we go at it again and not consider any secret techniques she might know, we could be entering our graves. _

Even though the silver-haired playboy had been involved in the Wisp affair since it began with the Brute Wisp's destruction of his Combot, Lee had his doubts on whether or not he really belonged on the citywide battlefield between mortals and supernatural entities. Jun was fighting the Wisps because she felt morally obliged to do so, and Kazuya was fighting the Wisps because he felt responsible for the carnage and it was up to him to erase his mistakes (though Lee was not entirely sure of what those mistakes were, as the details of the said mistakes were still hazy to him).

Lee had only been fighting because a beautiful woman asked him to. While that may have been enough for him when the affair started, after almost two full weeks of nonstop combat he was having a hard time justifying his decision to do so. Furthermore, there was the matter of the shards that were instrumental in the fight with the Wisps: several of his acquaintances from the tournament had crossed paths with him, and all of them had a shard to give to Lee. According to Yoshimitsu, the latest King of Iron Fist veteran to give Lee a gift, the shards were part of a legendary living weapon called the Soul Calibur, and it had chosen the silver-haired playboy as its next wielder.

_But why me?, _Lee asked himself as he reflected on the matter. _What makes me so special?_

There were several words that Lee Chaolan would use to describe himself: charismatic, handsome, smooth, athletic, multi-talented, and funny were among them. One thing he was not, however, was heroic. While confidence had never been a problem of his when he fought an opponent, there was also a wave of fear that would wash over him when he was confronted with an enemy that he wasn't entirely sure he could defeat.

However, he had been fighting against enemies who were bigger and stronger than he was: enemies that, without the aid of his shards, would have killed him easily. Lee had not really thought about why he had been fighting so long until after the Phantom Wisp dispatched of him so easily, and he considered backing out of the fight for a moment upon reflecting on his battles.

However, Lee would not need more than a moment to remind himself of the reason he was trying to remember involving his continued fighting: Nagalya. _I quickly became smitten with her upon seeing her face for the first time, and I haven't stopped thinking about her since. If I end the threat of the Wisps and defeat her, then I can work my magic and make her mine. I will have taught her the error of her ways, and brought an end to her wickedness without having to end her life: that's a noble cause, isn't it?_

Standing up off the couch and stretching his arms, Lee let out a long yawn before going into the kitchen and pour a cup of tea. As he did so, he shifted his gaze downwards and looked at the necklace of blue metal shards that he had made earlier in the week. _I just have to keep telling myself that: whether or not I'm the destined one of these weird shards is trivial. I'm fighting because I want to, and not because I have to!_

_--_

Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Lee turned his head to the door and watched as Kazuya and Jun walked into the kitchen with something in each their arms: a pair of metallic wrist devices that had the two kanji spelling out "Tekken" etched into each of them. "Hey, what are those?" Lee asked before sipping his tea. "Those look familiar."

"These things are going to allow us to defeat the Wisps much quicker," Kazuya said while he sat down at the kitchen table and pulled an apple from the fruit bowl. "They are experimental Tekkenshu armors that can increase the user's ability several times over: I am sure you have heard of such a device."

"…I read about them, but this is the first time that I have seen them," Lee replied with a shrug before going to sit down in a seat opposite of his foster brother. "Still, I thought we were more confident in our abilities: so far we've been able to defeat any Wisp that has come our way with our own strength."

"That's very strange talk coming from you," Jun interjected. "I would have thought you would be the first to agree with Kazuya that we should use everything we can to defeat the Wisps." Sitting down between the two brothers, the former detective raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Is something on your mind, Chaolan?"

"Yeah: I've been thinking about how far we've come in such a short amount of time," he explained before taking another sip of his tea. "Two weeks ago I hanging around the house doing business work and worrying about how I could upgrade Combot, and now I'm the prime candidate for 'savior of the world.'"

"I thought such a role would boost your oversized ego," Kazuya commented before taking another bite of his apple. After finishing what was in his mouth, the gray-haired karateka continued speaking. "You have been put in a rare position to save this city from destruction: why does this bother you?"

"I'm not really sure myself: maybe I'm getting philosophical in my old age," the silver-haired playboy reasoned. Turning his glance towards Kazuya's wrist device, a longing frown developed on his face. "Hey, brother…I don't suppose that you have one of those for me too?"

"Of course not, you beggar," Kazuya answered with a sneer before pointing to Lee's full-body silver Tekkenshu armor that was still strewn across the room opposite of the kitchen. "You have your toys, while Jun and I have ours. Be happy with what you have already acquired before you have nothing at all."

As Lee exited the room to gather up his "toys", Jun turned her gaze towards Kazuya and commented on her companion's lack of tact. "You are so hard on him, Kazuya: he's much more sensitive than you seem to realize."

"He is an immature crybaby trapped in a man's body," the Cold-Blooded Prince criticized his foster brother's childish ways as he finished his apple and wiped his mouth. "If not for his other skills, I would not have allowed him into my circle. It's a wonder how I ever considered him my rival growing up."

"_He is considerably cuter than you are: of that you can be certain."_

Kazuya's eyes narrowed as he heard the annoyingly familiar voice in his head. "Jun…do you here her, too?" he asked with a whisper, so as to not alert Lee that his demented idol was speaking to them. Jun nodded her head no, so Kazuya turned away and focused his thoughts. _What do you want, harlot?_

"_I am issuing a challenge for the three of you: come to the Saitama Super Arena in four hours," _Nagalya's voice said with unbridled arrogance that caused the karateka to grit his teeth in anger and frustration. _"There is another Wisp that I want you to meet: bring all of your courage and strength."_

_Stop hiding behind your Wisps, harlot, _Kazuya thought back, hoping to coax Nagalya into coming out into the open. _If you have any pride as a fighter, would have ended these silly games and fought us head-on. Why do you persist in delaying your inevitable demise?_

"_Aren't you the anxious one," _the voice commented. _"Let me put it to you another way: if you manage to defeat this Wisp, then I will personally fight you. It will be a battle to the end, and the winner will decide the fate of this sinful city. How does that sound, Kazuya?"_

_That sounds just fine to me: we shall be there. In the meantime, prepare yourself for a hellish time. _Feeling the psychic connection sever, Kazuya stood up and looked to Jun. "Jun, tell Lee to prepare himself. I am going to go into the study room to think. In three hours, we leave for the Saitama Super Arena."

"Oh dear," Jun said with a sigh while Kazuya left to go the study. "There's a place that neither of us have many fond memories of…"

--

The Saitama Super Arena, located on the outskirts of Tokyo, is a massive arena that has the ability to change it shape. Using a gigantic mobile block, it can turn into a stadium, a concert hall, or an arena. The building was like a transforming vehicle that had become a staple in Japanese children's shows, changing its form to better suit its needs.

The last time Kazuya and Jun were here, however, was during the previous King of Iron Fist Tournament. During this incident, Jun had been captured by the maniacal Jean Sorel and then brainwashed her into fighting her son Jin. This was when the evil blood that had been injected into Kazuya had not yet fully diluted into Jun's system, and it was still possible for the Devil Gene to possess her.

Before either Jun or Jin could do something they would have surely regretted later on, Kazuya subdued both of them and eradicated the evil influence within her while making doubly sure not to kill her in the process. At first, Kazuya was disgusted with himself for saving her and sparing his son so selflessly, but he was later rewarded for his noble deed when Jun saved him from Jean's savagery.

"I would have preferred not coming back to this infernal place again," Kazuya said with a menacing grimace across his face as he stepped out of the car he and his two companions had driven in. "This was where I suffered a defeat at the hands of a foe far inferior to me. I am still unsure what came over Sorel that he would muster up the strength to bring me so close to death."

"Jean did not leave the battle unscathed, Kazuya" Jun reminded her "lover" as she stepped out of the passenger's side of the vehicle. "By acting like a demon, he became one himself, and I am sure that he loathes what he has become despite what he may claim. However, he is someone to be exorcised at a later time."

"Indeed: there is a different fool that needs to be taught a lesson," Kazuya said with a cruel smirk as he looked at his wrist and gently stroked the device wrapped around it. Turning around to look at the car, the Cold-Blooded Prince raised his voice. "What are you waiting for, Chaolan? Are you cowering in fear because this might be where you die?"

"It's just it's hard to unbuckle my seat belt with my suit on," Lee shouted back, stepping out of the car to reveal his full-body Tekkenshu suit: a gleaming silver assembly of armor with the helmet adorned with two blue "eyes" that shone like small flashlights. Striking a quick pose, the silver-haired playboy let out a quick laugh. "Still, I can't say that I don't like the look."

"I suppose it's time to suit up," Jun said to Kazuya as she charged her ki, causing her wrist device to flash rapidly. After a few moments of flashing, Jun's body was enveloped in a brilliant golden light that forced Lee and Kazuya to shield their eyes from its luminance. After a couple of seconds later, the light faded and revealed Jun's "experimental suit:" a shimmering combination of gold and platinum.

Her slim torso was adorned with body armor that shone like a prism, giving off a rainbow-like glow that was shared by gloves and boots of the same platinum shine. In the center of the body armor was a single emerald that glowed softly, and just under the body armor was a silver belt bound together with a platinum belt buckle bearing the two kanji "Tekken," while under the belt was a golden skirt with a silver trim. The rest of her body was coated in the same gold hue as the skirt, while Jun's face (in fact, her entire head) was masked with a gold helmet with only a black visor allowing for eyesight and the symbol "pi" on each side of her head where the visor ended.

"That is… so cool," Lee said with his voice full of longing and envy. "Do you mean to tell me you two have Shinkenger suits? I remember watching those guys on the news: I can't believe you have access to such elegantly designed suits and I don't!"

"We haven't been able to repeat the phenomenon that created them," Kazuya explained as he charged his own wrist device with his ki, and it responded to his actions with a robotic female voice uttering the phrase "standing by." "It would seem the only person who knows how to create them is Heihachi, and I have not yet decrypted the files he has on them. Besides, there is no way I would share such power with you."

After whispering the key word that would fully activate his morpher, Kazuya's body was enveloped in a dark void that covered his body in shadow. However, the shadow would soon have light reflecting off of it again, as it dissipated as quickly as it came to reveal Kazuya's suit. His suit was similar to Jun's, only dark violet and polished ebony replaced where shining gold and brilliant platinum lay on her suit. His silver-studded red gloves were still apparent on his hands, and his shoulder pads were spiked and sharp. With his face covered with a dark purple helmet, Kazuya's red visor glowed ominously while a stylized "s" was etched where the visor ended.

"I am so jealous: you two have all the fun just because you have superpowers," Lee said with a grown before the three of them started walking towards the arena. "I just have my super-advanced robot and my array of modified Tekkenshu suits. It makes me all hot and bothered every time-"

"Stop whining," Kazuya said with his voice revealing his impatience. "Whenever you don't get what you want, you cry like an infant. Grow up for once and be happy with what you have!"

Before Lee could respond to such to such an accusation, they were greeted with the sight of hordes of people running out of the arena and towards them. Fortunately for them, they were dispersing in such a way that they wouldn't be trampled underfoot, but something was clearly happening within the arena.

Grabbing one of the retreating people as she passed by them, Jun asked what was wrong.

"The Shinkenger: thank goodness," the woman said before Jun let her go and allowed her to run away. "There's a monster killing people in there! You have to stop him!"

--

Once the stream of people had died down a bit, the trio made their way into the arena where the smell of blood was thick in the air. They would not have to look long for the scent, however, for as soon as they entered the main part of the arena…

…they were greeted by the sights of hundreds of bodies strewn across the thousands of seats in the vast coliseum-like area. Even though this wasn't the first time Nagalya and her Wisps had taken it upon themselves to end the lives of innocent people as they did with the gentleman's club, it was the first time they had done so on such a massive scale.

"_Welcome to my circle of death, friends," _the trio heard Nagalya's voice in their minds as they headed down to the center of the arena, where the woman stood with her hands in the pockets of her coat with bodies strewn across the stage. _"There was a karate tournament being held here, and my latest Wisp was hungry for strong souls_ _so we decided to come here and dig in before tangling with you."_

"You are as twisted as you are beautiful," Lee shouted out so Nagalya could hear him as they made it to the halfway point between the entrance and the main stage while Kazuya and Jun looked around and scanned the area for any signs of life. "No man is going to want you like this, you know: you have to balance out your bloodlust with a bit of gentleness."

"I beg to differ, Scrumptious," Nagalya shouted back, still waiting for the trio to reach the lowest level of the arena. "I know you want me just the way I am, so don't try and fool yourself!"

"What my idiot brother means, harlot, is that you have to perform these kind of tasks with a bit more dignity," Kazuya interjected while the trio finally stepped onto the main stage of the arena and carefully stepped over the dead karatekas strewn across the floor. "See, when I would do this kind of dirty work, I would send an assassin or a group of mercenaries so that I wouldn't be getting my own hands dirty. The only time I would really kill someone with my own hands is when it was personal…much like I am about to do now."

"Is that what the crazy get-ups are for?" Nagalya asked as she folded her arms. "I suppose I should feel honored that you would employ such advanced technology to dispatch my latest and greatest employee." With a snap of her fingers, a blue ball of fire about as big as a basketball appeared between Nagalya and her adversaries. "As you can see, he's well-fed, and he's looking to help digest his meal with some a big gulp of carnage!"

As soon as Nagalya finished that sentence, the flame took solid form and revealed a macabre individual that made even the cold-blooded Kazuya let out a quiet gasp. The individual was a little under five-and-a-half feet tall, completely adorned in midnight blue European knight armor with the exception of his left arm that was a giant mutated light blue mandible-like claw with gnashing fangs where the shoulder would be, and another set of teeth on its corresponding pectoral muscle. The helmet of the creature had a long unicorn-like golden horn jutting from the forehead and two fins coming from the back of the head. The monster's eyes glowed a fiery red as a long, maroon-colored zweihander with a large purple eye at its hilt appeared in his more humanoid arm, furthering adding to his demonic appearance.

"Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce you to the Nightmare Wisp," Nagalya began as the bizarre knight slowly walked towards the trio with his weapon dragging across the ground, leaving a deep gash in the floor. "You see, this Wisp was actually created from the ornament around my neck, and used its power to become this. I don't know what he was in his previous life, but the form he took was the wielder of the Soul Edge that you heard about earlier this week."

"I have heard of this Nightmare," Kazuya stated before assuming his fighting stance. "I was actually considering resurrecting him rather than Astaroth. However, I decided the consequences of reviving such a prominent figure in history would be foolhardy." With his gloved hand raised, Kazuya pointed an accusing finger at the azure knight. An instant later, the finger crackled with purple electricity as Kazuya prepared to fire off a piercing bolt of ki at the Nightmare Wisp. "As such, I will end this fool's existence quickly, so that I may move on to your nightmare."

However, when the finger reached its zenith, what should have been a deadly spear of energy was instead a quick burst of energy that ricocheted harmless off of the creature's armor. Looking at his hand in curiosity, Kazuya let out a growl before abandoning such a technique and charging at the knight with his fist raised. "Whatever: I can still defeat you just fine like this!"

With his weapon suddenly springing into action, the Nightmare parried Kazuya's straight punch with an upwards slash, and then brought his blade down across the karateka's chest to draw forth a spray of sparks and a shout of pain as he fell to the floor. Inspecting where he had been cut, Kazuya rolled out of the way of another vertical slash and rose back up with a standing roundhouse to send the knight sprawling away.

"Kazuya, what is wrong?" Jun asked with her voice full of concern as she ran up next to Kazuya. "Usually you are able to summon much stronger beams than that."

"I am not entirely sure myself," Kazuya replied as he watched the Nightmare flip back onto his feet with much more grace than his awkward form would lead people to believe. "My hypothesis is that if the morpher falls into disuse for a certain amount of time, there are some complications when someone tries to use it again."

"I suppose that is possible," Jun said while Lee ran up to her side and the two of them assumed their fighting stances and prepared for the Nightmare's next assault. "However, we will just have to make due with what we have. There are three of us, and one of him: we should not have too much trouble with him."

While the numbers did weigh in the trio's favor, it would make little impact on the outcome of the bout. When Jun charged her ki and attempted to plunged her glowing hand into the monster's stomach in an attempt to shatter the creature's armor, the Nightmare used the flat part of his zweihander to block the attack and then countered with his massive claw crashing into Jun's head and chest with a devastating straight punch.

As Jun fell to the floor, Lee jumped over her to strike the Nightmare in the head with a Silver Sting kick. Normally the impact of the kick would topple an opponent, but the Nightmare only took a few steps back and shook his head before rushing back towards Lee his weapon lowered. Rather than attacking with his weapon, however, the Nightmare shot his foot out and kicked Lee in the stomach to stun the silver-armored playboy before sending him to the floor with a second side kick.

Before Nightmare could pursue, Kazuya grabbed onto his neck from behind and threw him over his shoulder and to the ground with a reverse neck throw. Not in the mood for anything fancy, Kazuya lifted his foot and brought it down on the neck of the knight: the only opening in his armor that he could see. However, the Nightmare lifted his zweihander and struck Kazuya in the shoulder with it, forcing the Cold-Blooded Prince to step off of him and back away.

Nightmare stood up quickly and returned on the offensive with two more chops to Kazuya's shoulder, followed by a vertical slash to Kazuya's collarbone that elicited a roar of pain as he crumpled to the floor gripping his attacked arm. With an evil laugh, the azure knight walked over to Kazuya and stomped on his neck rapidly in a mocking parody of what Kazuya had done to him a moment earlier.

After nine stomps, the Nightmare lifted his zweihander high above his head and prepared to skewer Kazuya on it. Before he could do so, however, Lee grabbed onto his head from behind and jumped forward to bring the knight down with a Bulldog. Rolling back to his feet, Kazuya stomped on the monster's back as soon as he was back in a standing position, and Lee joined in on the stomping frenzy a moment later. "Normally I would be appalled by this kind of group behavior," Jun said as she ran up to her two companions and joined in on the stomping. "However, we have to keep him down!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Nagalya shouted to the trio as she watched the battle from a few meters away. "The Nightmare Wisp doesn't like getting ganged up upon: in fact, he has a way of dealing with such actions."

As soon as Nagalya issued that warning, the azure knight's body started to glow like the moon, causing the trio to stop what they were doing and look down at the monster curiously. "He's gathering his ki: he's about to do something big," Jun exclaimed as she started to back away. "Kazuya, Chaolan, get away before it's too-"

Jun's warning came too late as the Nightmare's body was suddenly enveloped in a light pink bubble that sent the trio flying away in different directions. The bubble of power left a crater where the Nightmare had lay, and the knight stood back up with no apparent damage. "I can't believe this," Kazuya muttered to himself as he struggled to get back onto his feet. "He beat us all in less than a minute, despite the weapons we had at our disposal. I guess this is what I get for not checking my equipment before using it…"

"That was awesome," Nagalya exclaimed as the Nightmare admired his handiwork. Pointing her finger at Jun, the pale-skinned sociopath took off her fedora and tossed it away. "You can start wrapping things up by killing her and bringing her carcass over here: I want to see her face as her soul gets ripped out of her!"

Instead of heading for Jun, however, the Nightmare turned around and stared at Nagalya with fire burning in his demonic eyes. "Hey, what are you staring at, metalhead," Nagalya said with a hint of frustration before once again pointing on Jun. "You have a job to do: you can gawk at me after you're done!"

However, the Nightmare was no longer interested in his previous enemies: he instead started to slowly walk towards Nagalya with his zweihander slowly dragging across the ground. "Are you listening to me? I said back off and get back to work!" Charging her ki in her left hand, Nagalya fired off a streak of dark purple lightning at the azure knight. However, the azure knight lifted his zweihander and absorbed the blast with the eye of the weapon glowing fiercely.

A moment later, the Nightmare fired off his own bolt of energy: a wave of dark blue power that ignited Nagalya's trenchcoat and forced her to take it off lest she risked damage to her smooth skin that she valued so highly. However, this was only a distraction used to keep Nagalya from stopping the Nightmare from ramming into her with his shoulder and send her flying backwards.

"Kazuya," Jun said to her lover as she quietly stood up and ran over to where he was returning to his feet. "What is going on?"

"During the time of his existence, Nightmare was like an unstoppable force of nature," Kazuya explained, recalling what he had read from the books he had studied in the two weeks prior to his resurrection of Astaroth that signified the beginning of his campaign for Tokyo. "He cared nothing for money, women, or power: his only ambition was to destroy, and any ally he would make would feel his wrath once his goal had been achieved." With a cruel smile forming across his face, Kazuya let out a quiet chuckle before continuing. "This ghost is going to do our work for us, and destroy his creator."

Kazuya's smile quickly turned into a frown, however, when he noticed that Lee was stumbling towards the Nightmare, as if he intended to stop him by himself. "What does that moron think he's doing!? The knight is about to save us the trouble of dispatching Nagalya: this war with the Wisps will end with her. Surely he realizes this, but why is he attacking!?"

--

_My body hurts all over: it's like I'm on fire, _Lee thought through the searing pain in his body as he continued to make his way towards the distracted Nightmare. The knight's shockwave attack had taken its toll on Lee's mortal frame that had no heightened abilities to ease the suffering like Kazuya and Jun had. _However, I've worked through worse: as long as I can make it on time, it'll all be worth it!_

As soon as Lee had seen the Nightmare's betrayal, he knew what he had to do. Even though he and Nagalya were enemies, he swore that he would make her his lover, and the very last thing he would do is allow something fatal to happen to her. Lee might not have been heroic, but he was not heartless, either. Seeing how much closer the Nightmare was coming close to her fallen form, Lee quickened his pace before collapsing back on the floor.

However, the silver-haired playboy would refuse to go down there: he instead crawled on his belly as fast as he could, hoping to grab the azure knight's ankle and drag him down. _I won't let this stop me: I have to save her, or all of this work will have been for nothing!_

"_At long last, you have awakened, Lee Chaolan…"_

An unknown voice echoed throughout Lee's head as his entire body began to pulsate with energy. _What's going on? Something is happening to my body, _he thought as a wave of fear rushed over him. Ignoring it an instant later, Lee got back onto his feet and starting to walk at a quickened pace. _I'll worry about it later: I have to save her!_

The more he strengthened his resolve, the more his body became engulfed in a bright white light. _"You are now worthy to wield the power of light, Lee Chaolan," _the unknown voice told Lee as the light faded to reveal a new Tekkenshu suit that was shimmering blue with two crystal formations coming from the shoulder pads. A silver unicorn was now etched in the back of the armor, and the pain in Lee's body vanished instantly as it shone brilliantly.

Now advancing at a full run, Lee took to the air and knocked the Nightmare down with a flying side kick, landing gracefully while the azure knight fell flat on his face. Running over to where Nagalya was still sitting on the ground, Lee stood in front of her and stood between her and the Nightmare.

_What just happened, _Lee looked at his repainted suit and marveled its splendor. _Is this the power of the fragments? Is this the power that Yoshimitsu spoke of?_

"_I am the Soul Calibur: I have granted you this armor as it best suits your discipline. Use my power wisely, warrior," _the voice told Lee as he resumed his fighting stance while the Nightmare used its deceptive agility to flip back onto his feet and let out an angry roar. _"Use it wisely…Soul Breaker!"_


	16. Knight

"So this is the power of the shards," Kazuya mumbled as he watched his adopted brother and the Nightmare Wisp stare each other

"So this is the power of the shards," Kazuya mumbled as he watched his adopted brother and the Nightmare Wisp stare each other down. "I suppose I should have expected as much, being this is the legendary Soul Calibur I have read about."

Just when it seemed that the azure knight was about to end Kazuya's existence, along with Jun and Lee, the Nightmare suddenly turned on his creator Nagalya and threatened to cut her down like a tree. However, it would be Lee who would come to her rescue despite the pain he was in and the animosity between the trio and Nagalya.

It was at that moment that the shards that Lee had been accumulating over the past two weeks finally bonded to create a larger piece of the holy sword Soul Calibur big enough to assume a form that Lee would find most suitable: a shimmering blue full-body Tekkenshu suit. With this new weapon, the silver-haired playboy quickly put himself between the Nightmare and Nagalya.

_It's certainly ironic to think about, _Kazuya thought to himself as he observed the two combatants sizing each other up. _When I recruited Lee to my side after the last tournament, it was not out of any sort of brotherly love. It was because every now and then, he would have these spurts of courage and tenacity that would prove invaluable when it came time to seize the Zaibatsu again._

"Even with this new power, I do not think Lee has what it takes to face a demon this fearsome alone," Jun said, breaking the Cold-Blooded Prince's train of thought before preparing to attack the Nightmare from behind. "We must help him, Kazuya: Nagalya might try to attack him from behind."

"If he did not think about that possibility before he rushed in there, then that is his problem," Kazuya replied, placing a hand on Jun's shoulder to hold her back. "I wish to see the outcome of this battle, if only to gauge the power of the shards that we have been collecting. Once the knight is out of the way, we shall step in and take care of Nagalya."

--

"What are you doing?" Nagalya asked after nearly a full minute of Lee and the Nightmare standing in place glaring at each other through their respective helmets. "Why are you helping me? Am I not your enemy?"

"Yes I am, but you're still the object of my affections," he answered coolly before the Nightmare suddenly let out a primal roar and began rushing towards him with his zweihander dragging across the ground, leaving a shower of sparks in its wake. Raising his voice as he too advanced to take on the azure knight, Lee continued to voice his reasoning. "I would sooner poison myself than see you die!"

The Nightmare lifted his weapon and attempted to skewer Lee with a forward stab, but Lee spun around the blade and to strike the knight in the midsection with a quick backhanded punch, immediately followed by a left cross that sent the Wisp flying backwards like he had just hit by a speeding linebacker.

_His body armor should have absorbed most of the blow: I didn't expect that attack to knock him back so far, _Lee looked at his attacking hand in disbelief. _My entire body is flowing with power: this suit is amazing!_ Looking up to see the Nightmare get back onto his feet and charging back at him, the silver-haired hero clenched his hand and turned it into a fist. _Time to go to work!_

Preparing for whatever attack the Nightmare would try next, Lee resumed his fighting stance and remained where he was standing while the knight charged at him with violent intent burning in his red eyes. Rather than try and attack the martial artist with his blade, however, the Wisp suddenly took to the air. Before Lee knew what was going on, he was sent sliding across the floor with a powerful drop kick.

Flipping back onto his feet, Lee blocked the Nightmare's vertical slash using the armor on his arms to his advantage. After a few seconds of struggling, he pushed the blade away and created a hole in the knight's defense, and he exploited it with a quick jumping knee that knocked the Nightmare into the air. Lee followed up the knee with two spin kicks and a backflip kick that propelled the knight further in the air before concluding the assault with a Pulse Blast.

The Nightmare recovered quickly and turned his head just in time to parry Lee's jumping kick with his massive claw and then grab onto him with the same claw. Squeezing the silver-haired warrior until he heard him let out a shout of pain, the Nightmare lifted his foe high above his head and then flung him to the ground like a rag doll.

Chasing after his enemy, the Nightmare readied his zweihander and lifted it high above his head to cleave Lee in two with a massive slash. Rolling away just as the blade came down, a gasp escaped from Lee's lips as the sound of the weapon striking the ground echoed throughout the arena. _That was way too close: even with my new power, he's still a foe to be reckoned with, _Lee thought while he blocked the Nightmare's attack. _I just have to make sure to stay on the offensive!_

With a quick, whip-like kick, Lee struck the Nightmare in the neck and stunned him long enough to kick him in the shin. He followed up that maneuver with two more shin kicks before knocking the Nightmare away with a standing horizontal kick. The Nightmare landed on his claw and used it to right himself and strike Lee with the bottom of his sword just as he tried to attack.

Stunned, Lee was left vulnerable to the Nightmare's next set of attacks: a pair of slashes to the shoulder, followed by a massive vertical strike to Lee's shoulder blade that caused him to fall to the ground groaning. Even with his armor, he could still feel the blows of the attacks. _It may protect me from getting sliced and diced, but it's almost as if I am sharing its pain, _Lee thought as caught the zweihander by clapping his hands together just before he could be vertically bisected. _That's not very helpful!_

As soon as Lee thought about that, the pain in his shoulder vanished and removed the only thing that was keeping him from standing back up and pushing the blade away so he could send the Nightmare sprawling with a Silver Sting. _The pain is gone, just like that. That's more I like it! _

Rolling back onto his feet, the Nightmare let out an aggravated growl and approached Lee again, though this time the pace was considerably slower and more careful than the made rushes he had employed earlier. _What is he up to? Is he going to get serious now?, _Lee wondered as he approached the Nightmare just as carefully before attempting a Pulse Blast kick.

For his hastiness, the silver-haired playboy was punished with his kick blocked as the Wisp's claw knocking him high into the air with a powerful uppercut. Jumping up after him, the Nightmare caught Lee in mid-air and brought him crashing down on top of his armor with a falling backbreaker. _At least he didn't try and hack me in two while I was in the air, _he thought to himself, trying to find consolation as the Nightmare tossed him away. _That's a good thing, right?_

Feeling the effects of the backbreaker, Lee stood back up considerably slower and got back into his fighting stance, but he was too late to stop Nightmare's wild running upwards slash that sent him rocketing into the air like a missile. Rather than do anything to him during his flight, the knight laughed evilly and watched as Lee landed right on his head.

Lee let out a shout of pain and gripped his head even though he could not do anything to it thanks to his helmet. _I'm still getting my ass kicked, _he thought with a moan before instinctively rolling out of the way the Nightmare's downward stab. _What the hell is wrong with me!?_

Standing back up, Lee's left leg shot into action and bombarded the knight with several kicks across his midsection and head. After five lightning-fast kicks, Lee sent the Nightmare crashing into the floor with a standing roundhouse kick. Not willing to give the Nightmare any respite, Lee ran after him and kicked his fallen body with a baseball slide.

While the attack might have been theatric, it had little affect on the formidable knight. The Nightmare quickly stood back up and stomped on Lee's fallen body several times. After the sixth stomp, the knight's attacking foot burned with blue flame and prepared to flatten Lee underneath it. Fortunately for Lee, his armor absorbed most of the blows and allowed Lee to keep enough of his endurance to roll away and sweep the knight off of his feet as he came back up.

"_Why do you hold back?"_

_What are you talking about?, _Lee responded to the voice in his head as he waited for the Nightmare to stand back up so he could ram his knee into his face. The impact of armor hitting armor made a loud "klang" as the knight was knocked several feet into the air before landing on his neck and shoulders. _I'm trying to best I can to beat this guy._

Confused by the words of the spirit sword, Lee decided to ignore the question and attacked with what he believed to be his full power. Running at the monster with his fist raised, Lee let out a shout and lunged at the Nightmare with a jumping tackle. Colliding with the creature, Lee brought down his fists upon the Nightmare's helmet. Sparks shot out from his fists with every blow as the knight's head continuously bounced off the ground in response to the punches.

However, he was soon sent flying off of Nightmare in the wake of the same pink bubble of ki that he had employed earlier to send him and his two companions sprawling. Lee landed gracefully on his feet and caught his breath as the Nightmare flipped back onto his feet and glared at Lee coldly. _At least the suit protects me from that, _he thought as he slowly resumed his fighting stance. _Still, what did the voice mean about my holding back?_

Suddenly, the Nightmare tossed his sword at Lee like a javelin, surprising the martial artist and forcing him to duck under the flying weapon. _He just disarmed himself, _he thought happily as he began to run towards the knight once again. _Finally, things are working-_

KLANG!

Lee was sent face-first in the ground in the wake of the large zweihander that changed direction in mid-air and crashed into the back of his head. Catching his weapon, the Nightmare let out an evil, awful laugh as he stomped his foot on the back of Lee's neck and ground his heel into it. Picking Lee off the ground with his claw, Nightmare tossed Lee into the air and sent him flying away with a powerful, baseball-player like slash.

Not willing to give his foe respite, the Nightmare ran after his careening adversary with his blade raised. As soon as Lee landed on the ground with a thud, the Nightmare brought his blade down on his midsection. Lee screamed in agony as his armor received deep cuts as Nightmare chopped away at him like a lumberjack chopping at a tree.

"_Why do you hold back?"_

_Stop asking me that, _Lee shouted back in his mind as he looked up to see the Nightmare's eyes burning into his soul. _Do you think I enjoy this kind of beating? You're the one who told me that you have great holy power! Why don't you employ it to save me!? _Pinned under the knight's foot, Lee watched in horror as his opponent lifted his blade above his head and prepared to impale Lee underneath it. _Now would be a great time, Mr. Soul Calibur!_

Before the fatal blow could be struck, a streak of lightning blasted the Nightmare from behind. Curious as to who would dare oppose him when he was about to drink deep in the blood of his enemy, the Nightmare turned around to see Nagalya with her hand raised. "Hey, metalhead," she said with her voice much more serious than usual. "Scrumptious is mine and mine alone: I will not have you kill him."

With a low chuckle, the Nightmare stepped off of Lee and turned back to the object of his desire before he had interfered: the dragon succubus Nagalya. _What is she doing? _Lee asked himself as he turned his head to see the two of them squaring off. _I know she has a massive ego, but this guy will rip her apart!_

With a full run, Nagalya charged at the Wisp that had betrayed her and knocked him down with a flying kick. Rolling with the blow, the Nightmare returned to his feet and tried to skewer her with a lunging stab, but the attack only scraped by her side and he paid for his missed attack with a spinning half-knuckle blow that sent him rolling away like a stone.

Watching the spectacle unfold, Lee stood back up and tried to figure out what was going to happen. _She was able to hold her own against all three of us yesterday, at least for a little while, _he thought as Nagalya grabbed the Nightmare and slammed his face into the hard floor with a sitting face buster. _Maybe I'm worrying too much…_

However, the Nightmare gave enough reason for the both of them to worry as he grabbed into Nagalya's leg with his claw and slammed her into the ground like a whip. After he did that, the knight lifted his blade and plunged it into Nagalya's back, eliciting a cry of pain from the woman. The zweihander crackled with dark blue electricity as energy most pure and foul was injected into the wound that had been created.

Turning to Kazuya and Jun, Lee shouted out to them with his voice filled with desperation. "What are you two waiting for? Save her!"

"She is our mortal enemy, Lee: you know this," Kazuya shouted back coldly. "It will be much better to let her die at the hands of her own creation: once she is dealt with, we shall deal with the knight."

_What? What an awful way to think, _Lee thought before shouting to Jun. "Jun, aren't you the one who is trying to save everyone? Why don't you help her!?"

However, Jun was too ashamed to respond: she instead lowered her head and stood in place. "I don't believe this," Lee hissed before turning back to the scene with the demonic knight and the screaming succubus. Having taken all he could stomach, Lee ran towards the scene with a mad dash. "You two stay there, then. I'll save her!"

"_Your friends will not help you: you are alone."_

_I don't need you to tell me that, _Lee thought bitterly as he continued running, hoping with all of his might that he would interfere in time before Nagalya's unnatural life was ended at the hand of the azure knight. _All you need to do is make sure that I get there on time to save her!_

"_The object of your desire is your enemy: you are alone."_

_Aren't you a basket full of joy, _Lee thought back sarcastically. _What are you getting at?_

"_You must trust in your own strength, as sometimes you will be alone."_

Ramming into the knight at full speed, Lee toppled the Nightmare who took his blade with him on his brief trip to the ground via the air. _I hope I got here on time, _he mumbled as he knelt down and inspected Nagalya's wound. While the wound was fairly deep, it did not appear to be anything fatal. _She's still breathing, and her pulse seems steady, _Lee let out a sigh of relief as he removed his finger from her neck.

Lee's relief soon turned to hate as he stood back up to face the Nightmare once again. As he did so, his shimmering armor shone brighter than the sun, causing everyone in the area to shield their eyes. _This monster turned on his ally, and tried to strike her down. I will never forgive him for that._

Clenching his fist and charging his silver ki, Lee "turned off" the light with a wave of his hand before performing a quick kicking kata. Lowering his foot and resuming his fighting stance, the silver-haired warrior gently bounced up and down, anxiously waiting for the Nightmare to come charging at him so he could make him pay. With his fists glowing, Lee watched as the knight predictably came at him with a full run while he shouted out his challenge. "Come on!"

"_Do you believe in your strength?"_

_Yes, _Lee replied silently as he snatched the Nightmare by his head and brought him down to the ground with a standing neckbreaker. Standing back up before his adversary could, Lee flipped the knight over with his foot so that he was lying face-down and applied the heel of his foot to the back of the monster's neck

"_Do you believe in your cause?"_

_Yes, _Lee nodded his head to the silent question as he grabbed onto the fallen knight's more human arm, the arm holding his weapon, and held it still so that he could grind the heel of his boot into the back of the Nightmare's head before lifting his foot high into the air and bringing it down with a powerful stomp.

"_Do you believe in yourself?"_

_Of course I do, _Lee shook his head as he kicked the Nightmare's fallen body away with a sweeping kick that was further emphasized by a flash of silver ki. Rather than chase after the knight, Lee reared back and silently mocked his enemy by lifting his hand and motioning it towards him, daring the Nightmare to take more punishment.

"_Then you are no longer holding back, Lee Chaolan," _the voice assured Lee as he sent the Nightmare flying backwards with a backhanded uppercut before propelling him further backwards with a Silver Sting kick. Landing gracefully while the Nightmare landed on his back, Lee continued to focus on the battle before him while the voice gave him one last piece of advice. _"This enemy cannot harm you as long as you can still say 'yes' to those three questions. Show him, your friends, and the object of your desire what true power is!"_

The Nightmare let out an annoyed growl before running towards Lee and attempting to cut him in two with several slashes coming from different angles. Unfortunately for him, Lee effortlessly weaved through them: it was as if the Nightmare was going in slow motion. After the ninth failed swing, the knight paused to about what to do next, and was launched high into the air with a high-arcing vertical kick.

Quietly watching the knight fly farther into the air before his ascent slowed to a stop, Lee jumped into the air as the Nightmare fell back down to the earth and struck him with a jumping kick. This kept him from falling down just long enough for Lee to strike him with two straight punches immediately followed by two cross punches before slamming him back down with a 360-degree hook punch.

Rolling away from Lee's stomp, the Nightmare punched Lee in the chest with his claw and forced him to back away slightly. When he tried to take Lee's head off with a high horizontal slash, however, Lee ducked just in time and countered with twin rising kicks. The second kick lifted the azure knight into the air a few feet before he was sent sprawling backwards with a standing roundhouse kick that struck him while he was off the ground.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself, metalhead," Lee said as the Nightmare landed on his feet and charged his dark blue ki to prepare for his next attack. "With my skill, I shine brighter than a star." Raising one hand, the silver-haired warrior struck a posed. "With my confidence, I strike faster than a comet." Spinning in place by the heel of his boot, Lee performed a quick kick flurry. "With my heart, I bring darkness to its knees." Entering his Hitman Stance, the martial artist concluded his little poem and waited for the Nightmare to attack. "I am the Soul Breaker, and you are about to be shattered!"

Firing off two rays of dark energy from his eyes, the Nightmare hoped that his attack would silence the upstart fighter. However, the man known as the Silver Devil would not be denied: putting his arms up to protect himself, Lee slowly made his way towards the Nightmare like a man caught in a windy storm. _These eye beams probably would have set me on fire if not for this suit, _Lee thought as he quickened his pace as he came closer to his target. _Oh well: looks like this is about over!_

However, the Nightmare's zweihander was burning, as well: the eye beams were only to distract his opponent long enough to charge up for one, final slash. Once he decided Lee had advanced far enough, the Nightmare's eyes ceased firing and he swung his weapon with one great upwards-diagonal slash. If it had connected, not even Lee's armor would have saved him from being sliced in two.

Fortunately, Lee's quick reflexes allowed him to backflip away from the slash and return to his fighting stance, safe and sound. "I'm tired of playing with you, metalhead," Lee said as he charged his silver ki and prepared for his own set of fatal strikes. "I think it's time that I showed you what I can do!"

To the surprise of the spectators, Lee shot out a burst of white light that struck the Nightmare in the chest. Exploding upon impact, the light gave way to a ring of power that encircled and trapped the knight, binding his arms and forcing him to drop his weapon. The monster grunted as he tried to break free, but the ring was too powerful even for him.

"You can try getting out of that all you want," Lee said as the Nightmare tried invoking the power of his force field, but to no avail. "I've been chipping away at you, bit by bit. There's no way you'll be able to escape now." With his body shining like a star, Lee crouched down like he was about to take flight. "Here comes the coup de grace!"

Jumping impossibly high into the air, Lee let out a piercing shout as his helmet gently touched the lighting fixtures on the ceiling of the arena before beginning his descent back down to the ground. Putting his arms in a cross position, the armored playboy spun like a corkscrew as the Nightmare watched him plummet down towards him. After a few seconds of tension, Lee blasted the knight with both his knees and sent him flying backwards like a thistle in the wind as he voiced the name of his technique. "Critical finish…Breaker Kick!"

Landing with such force that he left a large crack in the hardwood floor, the Nightmare slowly stumbled back onto his feet…only to realize that his feet were no longer moving. Looking down to see what was the problem, the knight's red eyes widened as he realized that his legs were frozen, and the effect was slowly moving up his body. The Nightmare roared in defiance, but the damage had been done.

"You were pretty tough," Lee said as the wave of crystallization finally reached the knight's head to turn him into a crystalline statue. Hearing a cracking sound come from the statue, Lee turned around and gave his doomed foe a piece of advice. "Next time…you need to fight with more class!"

With the snap of Lee's fingers, the Nightmare shattered into countless crystalline pieces. Rather than gloat about his victory like he normally would, the silver-haired playboy instead let out a deep sigh, and his crystal suit faded in a flash of light to reveal the normal Tekkenshu suit he had worn coming into the arena.

Hearing the sound of footsteps coming from behind him, Lee turned around and saw Nagalya back up on her feet, albeit breathing heavily. "I hope that wasn't too much for you," he said with a smile as he took his helmet off and brushed back his hair. "Are you feeling better?"

"You…saved me," Nagalya said with an awkward pause between the first and second words.

"And you saved me, Nagalya," Lee countered as he outstretched his hand. "I owe you my life, beautiful: thank you."

Nagalya lifted her hand, as if she were about to touch Lee's, but she quickly pulled it back and raised her voice. "What do you think you're doing!? You just defeated the most powerful of my Wisps and you think I'm going to just going to fall to your knees, because you're acting like my knight in shining armor!?" Turning her damaged back to Lee before running away, Nagalya shouted out a warning. "Next time, I'm going to face you myself! I'll make you all wish that you died here!"

Hearing the sound of rushing footsteps, Lee turned around and threw his hands up as Jun and Kazuya attempted to chase after Nagalya. "She's beaten, you two: let her go for now."

"You idiot," Kazuya growled before lifting his gloved fist. "Because of you, we wasted our time here! I wouldn't be surprised if she approached us next time even more powerful than all of the Wisps combined. You had to take that risk…just because you can't ignore your primal urges!"

"Kazuya, stop it," Jun shouted out as the Cold-Blooded Prince knocked his adopted brother down with a single punch while her Shinkenger suit deactivated in a flash of golden light. "Lee did what he felt was the right thing to do. We cannot fault him for following his code of ethics."

"His code of ethics is flawed, much like his character," Kazuya said with an angered hiss before his own suit disappeared in a wave of dark purple energy. Letting Lee stand back up, the gray-haired Mishima let out a sigh. "However, he did handle that knight all by himself: I suppose his actions weren't entirely useless…"

"I'd punch you back if I wasn't so tired," Lee snapped back before the trio started to walk out of the arena. "I know what I did probably wasn't very smart, but it doesn't matter. We'll deal with her soon…but we'll do it in a way that doesn't involve killing her. That is why I am fighting, and why I intend to see this through to the end!"


	17. Desire

Whether or not she wanted to admit it, Nagalya owed her life to Lee Chaolan.

Even though only a day had passed, the stab wound on her back had healed to leave an impressive scar on her beautiful skin, but her pride was still damaged. The one who gave her the scar happened to be a Wisp: a specter that she not only recruited, but shared a portion of her power with. Nagalya had almost committed involuntary suicide by coming so close to her end at the hands of the azure knight spawned from the ornament around her neck.

However, she would be spared from such a fate thanks to the 49-year-old man that she playfully nicknamed "Scrumptious" despite the animosity that brewed between the two of them. Using the Soul Calibur shards that he and his two companions Jun Kazama and Kazuya Mishima shared to fight the Wisps, Lee Chaolan conjured up a special suit made entirely of the sacred metal and shattered the Nightmare into countless crystal pieces. Before then, Nagalya had considered him her "plaything": someone that she would not so innocently lust over and dispose of if he became too much of a nuisance.

However, that changed when Lee offered his hand to her in friendship upon defeating the treacherous knight. For a moment, Nagalya considered accepting his hand, but she quickly reminded herself of her responsibilities as a priestess and left him in the metaphorical dust. When she promised to bring him and his allies misery and pain, it was with only half-heartedly: her mind was filled with conflicting emotions, and she did not know what else to say.

_Every time I think about him now, my heart rate becomes unstable, and my face becomes warm, _Nagalya thought as stood underneath the great Tokyo Tower and let out and watched the civilians and tourists go in and out of the elevator doors that would bring them higher up the magnificent structure. _I am the priestess of a great and powerful entity: I should not be feeling this way about the one who would oppose him._

Today was Saturday, and it had been one full week since Kazuya Mishima had entered the fray and made Nagalya's life considerably more difficult. Thanks to his meddling and the continued hindrances of Jun and Lee, the dragon succubus was considerably behind schedule in the release of her god. She could no longer rely on the Wisps now: Nagalya was alone.

_The only solace I have is that my master has not yet pulled the plug on me, _she thought as she walked out from underneath the tower to stare into the cloudy afternoon sky. _I guess he expects me to act on my own, but I am not sure that I can do this without any additional help…even with my natural fighting skills._

Having come into the world by way of the excess energy left behind by her "brother" Dragoon's destruction, Nagalya was literally made to be a warrior. Without even a lick of training, she was an expert in the fighting style known as Jeet Kune Do and her natural instincts added a savage edge to the already-formidable art. She never had any need for training, anyway: thanks to her unique biological structure, she was always in peak physical condition.

This, along with her vain personality, made her extremely confident whenever she was faced with adversity. With a taunting voice and a belittling demeanor, Nagalya felt like she could take on any challenge. The size of her ego did not diminish even with the long string of defeats she had to deal with in the previous two weeks. However, all of that changed after the previous day's events.

She felt vulnerable, like the humans that she preyed upon to appease her great master. When the Nightmare Wisp attacked her, she was introduced to another new emotion: raw fear. While she never looked forward to her master's threats to end her life due to her putting pleasure before business, being literally stabbed in the back showed her what real fear tasted like.

Even with her inexperience with that kind of fear, Nagalya quickly made steps to conquer it: by introducing something else to worry about, like the wrath of someone even more powerful than the Nightmare. There were very few mortals that could match the Nightmare in power without any sort of supernatural ability, but to her good fortune there was someone in town who fit the qualifications.

Earlier in the day, while Nagalya was stewing over what happened at the Saitama Super Arena, she strengthened her resolve to face her three enemies in a fearsome battle that would decide the fate of the city, and ultimately the world. Being her confidence had been shaken up to a point where she no longer felt she could take on all three of them guaranteed, Nagalya decided to test her mettle against one of the aforementioned mortals that could match the Nightmare.

He wasn't a particularly hard man to locate, especially with his peculiarly powerful aura for a human with no known supernatural attributes. Once she had pinpointed the man's aura, she established a psychic connection with him while he was at a board meeting located at the Mishima Financial Empire's public headquarters in the heart of the city.

"_Who are you?" _was the phrase he had begun the psychic conversation with. _"How is it that you can speak to me?"_

After explaining her telepathic abilities, Nagalya tossed the metaphorical gauntlet and issued a simple challenge. _"I would like to challenge you to a duel later today. As a respectable martial artist, I am sure that you would have no qualms whatsoever against facing me in a match of honor and skill."_

"_It is not every day that someone issues a challenge against me, especially via telepathy," _the man had replied silently while he continued speaking to the board members at the meeting as if nothing was on his mind save for the business that they were aware of. _"I shall be honored to face you: name the time and place and I will be there to see you!"_

The arrangement that they had made during the brief conversation was 5:00 PM sharp, at the very center of the Tokyo Tower. It was 4:57 PM, and Nagalya was starting to get excited. Since her creation, Nagalya had only fought when she absolutely had to, leaving most of her fighting to the Wisps. Now she would get a chance to face someone for the sake of gauging her strength, and it was an exciting thing to contemplate.

It was hard not to respect her imminent opponent's accomplishments: he was the father of the world-renowned King of Iron Fist tournament that was the pinnacle of martial arts competition. Not only did he create the tournament, but also he had emerged victorious as its champion three times over. He was the only person in the history of the tournament to do so: not even his children or his grandchildren had accomplished such a feat.

Furthermore, he was also a brilliant businessman: when he took the reigns of the Mishima Zaibatsu for the first time, he focused it towards military development and then used that as a catapult to several other business ventures until it became a massive conglomerate that included, but was not limited to, the Financial Empire, the mercenary group known as the Tekkenshu, and the Heavy Industries.

Nagalya's pride swelled with the fact that such a distinguished fighter and worker would accept her humble challenge. Win or lose, she would gain valuable experience that would do nothing but help her when she faced the trio that continuously disrupted her plans. _I can sense his aura now, _Nagalya thought with a smile as she focused herself. _I think I should clear a path for him._

With the snap of her fingers, all of the motion around her ceased and a chilling silence filled the air. Even though she had lost confidence in her physical prowess, she firmly believed that her psychic powers were second to none and not even she was aware of any limits that her master had put on that aspect of her powers. Everyone within three hundred meters of her was frozen in place, unable to move until the one person that Nagalya omitted from her spell arrived to face her.

Two minutes later, Nagalya found her quarry: he was an elderly Japanese man who was balding on top save for two blade-like stocks of hair growing from the back of his ears and a bushy mustache underneath his nose. His powerful frame was well hidden beneath a tiger-striped business suit with dark purple tie and gloves. Once the man was within ten meters of her, Nagalya released her spell and the frozen patrons continued about their business.

"That was quite an impressive trick," the man said with a smirk as he folded his arms. "Where did you learn such a technique? I might want to study it later and claim it as my own."

"It's something that I taught myself," Nagalya said while she took off her fedora and revealed her face for the man to see. "I didn't properly introduce myself when we last spoke: I am Nagalya the dragon succubus. It is a great honor to meet you, Heihachi Mishima."

"Jun has told me about you and your underhanded plots," Heihachi's smirk disappeared and his eyes narrowed. "You have been terrorizing this city and throwing the natural order of things into disarray. Would you like to tell me why you are doing this?"

"Surely she must have told you, if you are aware of what is going on," Nagalya said with a smile before putting her hat on the ground and gently kicking it aside. "I intend to resurrect my master: the god of destruction that will turn this world into ashes, one city at a time. Does this worry you, Heihachi Mishima?"

"This is not the first time I have heard someone or something with that ability," Heihachi replied, not impressed by the succubus' pompous claims involving the power of her master. "However, his resurrection could prove troublesome: innocent deaths aside, it could be bad for my business." Unfolding his arms and assuming his fighting stance, the reigning King of the Iron Fists' smile returned. "So, are you calling me out here because you think I am the biggest threat to your god?"

"Of course not," Nagalya returned the smile with one of her own as she unbuttoned her coat to reveal her scantily clad, well-toned form and tossed it over her hat. "I called you out here because I intend to cut loose on Jun and your two sons, and what better way to gauge my fighting skills than to fight the biggest, meanest, and toughest dog in the yard?"

"Hmph, flattery will not get you anywhere, however true the flattering remarks may be," Heihachi said with a scoff as he slowly sidestepped to his left while Nagalya did the same. The two of them continued to sidestep as they orbited around an invisible center like moons. "Tell me: do you realize that by challenging me, you risk permanent injury? I'm afraid that have trouble holding back against foes that are as skilled as you."

"By coming here, you're the one risking death," Nagalya shot back as the two of them suddenly stopped and ran towards each other, primed to collide like wild bulls. "Maybe if I'm in a good enough mood, I'll take your soul and feed it to my master! Surely I'll be in his good graces if I do that!"

Using his longer reach to his advantage, Heihachi reached out and grabbed the charging woman's arm. Pulling her towards him, Heihachi locked Nagalya in a powerful side headlock, and ground his fist into her hair with a painful and humiliating noogie. Before he could do something more painful, however, Nagalya rammed her elbow into his stomach and forced her to release his hold. Then she put him into a headlock and tried to bring him to the ground with a Bulldog. However, Heihachi broke free just as the dragon succubus leaped forward and took a few steps back to put some distance between them.

The two combatants stared at one another silently, sizing each other up after the heated exchange of headlocks. _I'm by no means slow, but he was able to put me in a headlock completely by surprise and then escape my counter, _Nagalya thought with a smile before putting her hand on her neck and popping it and resuming her fighting stance. _Good: that means that he isn't just hype!_

Charging at Heihachi with violent intent, Nagalya attacked her opponent with a series of spinning kicks aimed at the elder man's head. None of the kicks hit their mark, however: Heihachi was simply to fast and Nagalya was too hasty. As soon as Nagalya lowered her attacking leg, Heihachi sent her flying backwards with a Thunder Godfist.

The pale-skinned sociopath landed gracefully on her feet and raised her head just in time to see Heihachi charge at her just as she had done unto him. Quickly putting her arms up, Nagalya blocked the elder man's left-right punch combination and countered with a snapping side kick to the stomach. The impact sent Heihachi rolling backwards like tumbleweed and gave Nagalya a moment to catch her breath.

Heihachi casually stood back up and dusted himself off before resuming his fighting stance and charging at Nagalya once again with his fist raised. _He here comes again, _the woman thought as she focused her ki into her leg. _I'll knock his head off right now! _Once she believed that Heihachi had come in close enough, Nagalya attempted to kick him in the side of the head with a high-arcing roundhouse kick, but Heihachi ducked just in the nick of time and rose back up with a massive Demon Uppercut that launched her high into the air.

With his foe falling helplessly towards the ground, Heihachi continued his assault with a snapping right punch, followed by a left jab, a swinging forearm strike, and another Thunder Godfist to propel Nagalya further away send her crashing onto her neck and shoulders. _What a powerful combination of attacks, _she muttered as she quickly got back onto her feet and resumed her fighting stance, _but I still have a lot of fight left in me!_

With quick, shuffling steps, Nagalya danced her away around Heihachi and taunted her foe with a quick wave of her hand. Unamused by the woman's arrogance, the reigning King of the Iron Fists chased after her and tried to strike her with a jumping kick. Pleased with the elder karateka's response, Nagalya jumped backwards and allowed Heihachi to land in front of her harmlessly before sending him screeching across the pavement with a devastating half-knuckle blow emphasized by a piercing shout.

Chasing after her opponent, Nagalya pressed onward by trampling Heihachi underfoot to elicit a grunt from the elder man. When she tried to put another foot on his person using a crushing stomp, however, Nagalya found herself caught in Heihachi's grip and thrown off balance as he stood back up. Doing onto her as she would have done until him, Heihachi stomped on Nagalya's stomach with a swift Geta stomp before backing away and letting her get back up.

Being careful not to fall into any traps Heihachi might set for her, Nagalya slowly advanced towards Heihachi and tossed a quick jab to his chest. The attack was so quick and light that the King of Iron Fists didn't bother blocking it, but this arrogance gave way to four more jabs that became gradually more powerful. After the final jab, Nagalya went from broke and turned her feinting punch into a real one: another half-knuckle blow that sent Heihachi sliding across the pavement.

_He didn't even try to defend against those attacks, _Nagalya muttered while she watched Heihachi stand back up and resume his fighting stance. _What's the deal with that? Does he think that my attacks aren't worth his time? _Going on the offensive, Nagalya came at her foe with a full run and let out a battle cry. _I'll show him who is supposed to have the bigger ego around here!_

Such a charge, however, was just the thing Heihachi wanted: the King of Iron Fists ducked under Nagalya's running jump kick and mercilessly launched her into the air with a quick standing uppercut while his body crackled with his lightning-like ki: the Mishima-ryu trademarked Electric Wind Godfist. "You are too hasty, young lady," Heihachi said, as Nagalya was airborne. "You should try invoking patience."

Before Nagalya could fall back to the ground, Heihachi pummeled the woman with a second Electric Wind Godfist. That attack propelled Nagalya further upwards and allowed the King of Iron Fists to connect with a quick left jab transitioned into a stronger spinning forearm strike. Concluding the mid-air combination with a Thunder Godfist, Heihachi watched as Nagalya was sent flying backwards to fall back to the ground with a thud.

Charging after his adversary, Heihachi charged his ki and knocked Nagalya down to the ground just as she had resumed proper footing with a powerful palm thrust: his well-known Iron Hand technique. _I see he's starting to get serious, _Nagalya thought as she flipped back to her feet and prepared to defend against Heihachi's next series of attacks. _I think I should try to do the same._

Once again trying to go for a high-arcing kick, Nagalya was stunned to see Heihachi duck her attack and then sweep her off of her feet with a Hellsweep kick. The sweep was immediately followed by two more sweeps that kept the succubus from falling onto the pavement, but she wouldn't be airborne long as Heihachi rose back up to send her flying away with a rising Thunder Godfist.

Amazingly, Heihachi was able to chase after the soaring Nagalya and actually strike her again with a quick right-handed punch. This punch was followed by another jab-to-forearm transition, but rather than a Thunder Godfist, Heihachi opted with a spinning Demon Slice Kick that caused her to screech across the pavement and let out a groan of pain.

_What's going on? We were pretty much even until a moment ago, _the dragon succubus thought as she struggled to get back onto her feet. _Was he just toying with me? Am I really this weak compared to the King of the Iron Fists?_

"I was expecting much more from someone like you," Heihachi said with his voice rich with disappointment as he picked Nagalya off the ground by her neck and rammed his forehead into hers to send her right back down to the ground again. "My words cannot describe how let down I am by your performance thus far. Your lack of actual combat experience is obvious."

_My head hurts: I feel like I'm going to be sick, _Nagalya's vision blurred and disorientation started to wash over her. _Is this where I'm going to fall? Will I die here, before I even get a chance to face my worthy adversaries and…and…_

As she was thinking about her imminent demise, a single image flashed through Nagalya's mind: it was a face that she had grown to admire over the past two weeks. _Why am I thinking about him at a time like this, _she muttered while she looked up to see Heihachi stand over her with his arms crossed. _Is it because I have unfinished business with him?_

"I told Jun that I would let her handle the affair of the Wisps," Heihachi said while his body crackled with power. "However, I do not think she would be too upset if I finished this matter here and now. After all, it was a duel for honor and martial arts supremacy."

However, Nagalya was not listening to Heihachi: she was instead focusing on the image of the man she had playfully nicknamed "Scrumptious": the silver-haired martial artist that had risked his life to protect her from harm despite being on opposing sides of the battlefield. _My heart is racing: the pain in my body is melting away thanks to his image, _Nagalya's breath became erratic as her eyes shot open. _That's right: I can't die here! I still have to thank him for saving me! _

"What are you thinking about? Your white cheeks are turning pink," the King of Iron Fists raised an eyebrow in curiosity before raising his hand in preparation for his most devastating technique: the Demon Tile Splitter. Seeing Nagalya get on her knees, Heihachi's brought his hand down with the intent to end the fight. "I suppose it matters little: at least you will be happy when you pass on to the next life!"

Suddenly, Nagalya lifted her head and sprung into action to stop Heihachi's ki-infused hand chop just inches away from her head. Her body crackled with dark purple electricity and her eyes burned with ambition and desire. "Sorry to keep you waiting, venerable King of the Iron Fists," she said with a smile before standing back up with Heihachi's hand still in her grip. Using her free hand to blast Heihachi with a lightning and send him sprawling, Nagalya resumed her fighting stance and licked her lips. "I think I'm ready to fight for real now!"

"It would seem that you have found your second wind," Heihachi said while he returned to his feet and charged at Nagalya with his stored ki still crackling all around him. "I am going to look forward to knocking that wind out of you! Prepare yourself, neophyte!" When the King of Iron Fists tried to knock her down with a jumping roundhouse kick, Nagalya ducked under the attack and rose back up with a rising kick immediately followed by a leaping kick that sent the elder karateka flying backwards.

Heihachi landed on his hands and quickly sprung off of them to get back to his feet and lift his head just in time to see Nagalya's closed fist crash into his nose. The impact of the attack did something that very few martial artists in history could claim their attacks could do: it drew Heihachi's blood. Not satisfied with the drawing of Heihachi's internal fluids, Nagalya followed up the punch with a backflip kick that sent the King of Iron Fists airborne before he crashed to the ground several feet away from the woman.

Surprised by the sudden wave of successful attacks, Heihachi altered his fighting stance and assumed a more defensive position. Waiting for Nagalya to come within range, Heihachi reached out and grappled with Nagalya until his superior physical strength allowed him to lift her above him so that her legs were between his head. Jumping into the air, Heihachi prepared to slam her into the ground with a jumping Power bomb, but Nagalya invoked all of her leg strength to flip Heihachi over in mid-air and have him crash into the pavement head-first with a mid-air leg scissors counter.

Taking Heihachi's groan and rubbing of his head as an indication that he was not quite finished, Nagalya picked Heihachi up and tried to put him in a headlock only to receive a stiff kick to the stomach that sent her stumbling backwards. When Heihachi tried to follow up, however, Nagalya caught the oncoming fist and held the elder karateka still so that they were side by side. Using her extraordinary flexibility, the dragon succubus' leg arched high and kicked Heihachi squarely in the nose where blood was flowing down.

"It's time to finish this up," Nagalya shouted as Heihachi stumbled backwards while gripping his bloody nose. "Here I come!" Weaving past the karateka's Iron Hand, Nagalya attacked Heihachi's bloody nose with a swift and painful punches. The frequency of the punches became greater and great with each passing hit, and Heihachi's face seemed more like a small punching bag.

After what Nagalya counted to be forty punches in less than six seconds, the succubus sent Heihachi rocketing into the air with a wicked side uppercut. Her entire body crackled with purple electricity as she reared back and attempted to pinpoint just where Heihachi would be when she took flight. When she did leave the ground, however, it was with peerless athleticism: athleticism that she used to strike Heihachi in mid-air with a ki-infused flying dragon kick, an attack that she voiced with a piercing shout.

_I did it, _Nagalya thought happily as she landed gracefully on her feet while Heihachi crashed into the pavement with a sickening thud. Turning around to see her opponent lying face-first on the ground, the dragon succubus raised her fist in victory. _I defeated the legendary Heihachi Mishima! _

Before she could truly celebrate her victory, Nagalya's eyes widened as Heihachi suddenly stumbled back onto his feet and dusted himself off. _You've got to be kidding me, _Nagalya thought with shock as Heihachi gently tapped his head a few times before walking towards her. _That was my best attack: how did he get up after that!?_

However, Heihachi came at her not with raised fists, but with clapping hands: the King of Iron Fists was applauding the pale-skinned sociopath. "I shall give this duel to you, Nagalya. That was most impressive," he said while Nagalya breathed a sigh of relief, "for a novice, anyway. What caused you to suddenly let out all the stops?"

"Your son, Lee Chaolan," Nagalya answered bluntly. "It would seem that I have fallen for him, and my desire to make him mine motivated me to take our dance to the next level."

"Hmph! I cast Lee out of my family a long time ago," Heihachi said with a scoff while he walked over to where Nagalya's fedora and trenchcoat lay. "My relationship with him right now is strictly that of a business relationship: I care nothing for what he does outside of my jurisdiction, so long as he does not try anything treacherous and foolish."

"It's a shame: I would have been glad to call you 'daddy,'" Nagalya said with a smirk before walking over to where Heihachi stood and accepted his offering. Putting her trenchcoat on with a stylish spin, Nagalya took her hat and prepared to leave. "Thank you for fighting me, Heihachi Mishima. It did wonders for my confidence."

"Before you go, I have something to ask you." Heihachi added, causing Nagalya to turn her head around and raise an eyebrow in curiosity. Certain that he had the succubus' attention, the reigning King of Iron Fists asked his question. "The evil energy radiating from your choker is the exact same energy as the Soul Edge fragment I have in my vault: what are you planning to do with such power?"

"The power of Soul Edge does not interest me, to be honest," Nagalya said with a shrug. "My only objective is to release the god that will destroy this world."

"Tell me, is the god that you are planning to resurrect Inferno?"

Nagalya smiled as she gave her answer. "I don't know who that is: sorry if I disappointed you, but you'll have to guess again."

"I see," Heihachi folded his arms and asked a different question. "Could you tell me the name of your god?"

"You will know his name in good time: after all, it will be the last word this city and every other city in the world will hear." Nagalya sang her master's praises before turning around and changing the tone of her voice into a more serious. "I have something to ask of you now: I want your promise that you will not interfere with his resurrection."

"That seems unfair," Heihachi replied with a frown. "You do realize that I cannot let this city fall: it would be bad for business."

"I didn't say that you couldn't try to stop him after he was released," Nagalya corrected Heihachi's assumption and continued. "My battle is with your two sons and Jun Kazama: it is a personal affair that I wish to see through to the end, and I do not want you meddling in my affairs."

"…very well," Heihachi nodded his head and allowed Nagalya to leave Tokyo Tower unopposed. "Just remember: just because I went easy on you doesn't mean that they will!"

Just as Nagalya left Heihachi's sight, he received one last psychic message from her:

"_I changed my mind: I'll tell you my master's name. You may call him…Azazel!"_


	18. Prophecy

It had been two full weeks since the Wisp affair began.

Only two Sundays ago, Jun received two mystical shards from the enigmatic President of G-Corporation: the same organization that experimented on her mind and body in an attempt to turn her into a living weapon. The President warned the former detective of the evil that would rain down upon the hapless citizens of Tokyo, and Jun quickly took steps to make sure that the said evil would not cause the city much trouble.

Her friend and comrade Lee Chaolan, who had the unfortunate disposition of being the first to feel the wrath of the evil, would join her in her quest. Around the same time, the leader of the evil made herself known: Nagalya, the pale-skinned woman and the queen of the angry specters known as the Wisps. With the battle lines drawn, Nagalya used her Wisps to make Jun and Lee's lives miserable while at the same time following her primary ambition: the resurrection of her god.

At the end of the first week of the Wisp affair, Jun and Lee were joined in their fight against the evil by Kazuya Mishima, who had just come back from a lengthy training regimen. Ironically, Kazuya was indirectly responsible for the current crisis, as Nagalya had come into existence via one of his old creations back when he tried to conquer Tokyo two months earlier. With this realization, the Cold-Blooded Prince swore to end the Wisp affair and destroy the woman that had made a mockery of what he had once set out to do.

By the end of the second week, however, it was looking as if the threat of the Wisps had all but ended. Lee Chaolan, using the several holy shards that he had accumulated over the days thanks to several martial artists that came to Tokyo to give them to him, transformed into a shimmering warrior of light known as the Soul Breaker. By destroying the Nightmare Wisp, the most powerful of all the specters and also the only one to challenge Nagalya's leadership, the trio had driven Nagalya into a tough spot. Very soon, she would be forced to enter the battlefield herself, and they knew that as long as they worked together the dragon succubus would fall.

On this Sunday evening not at all unlike the one where Jun encountered the President of G-Corporation, the trio was relaxing at the sidewalk cafe that the former detective frequented. With no clues as to Nagalya's whereabouts or her common hangouts that she might frequent, there was little to do except wait for her to challenge them and contemplate their next move.

_We are so close to bringing the Wisp affair to an end, _Jun thought while she sipped her tea as she looked to Kazuya sitting across from her with Lee sitting next to him. _If we continue to maintain our focus, then we should be able to do this Lee's way: painlessly and easily._

It was no secret to either Kazuya or Jun that Lee had fallen in love with the pale-skinned sociopath that had made several attempts on their lives. The silver-haired martial artist had a reputation as a playboy, wooing just about any and every woman he found remotely beautiful and more often than not successfully sleeping with them. However, the compassion he felt for Nagalya was unlike any other he had experienced: not even Anna Williams, the only one prior to the dragon succubus to Lee consider settling down for, evoked such emotions from him.

Kazuya was not particularly pleased with his adopted brother's fascination: he saw it as the height of idiocy and a testament to Lee's lack of self-control and common sense. Jun, on the other hand, saw nothing wrong with his infatuation: in fact, she found it quite admirable. After all, she was willing to sell her soul to change Kazuya's wicked ways twenty-two years before: to see someone else try to do the same to someone just as sinister was flattering.

"Think of what an asset she'll be to us when we defeat G-Corporation and turn our attention to Heihachi," Lee had told Kazuya when the subject was brought up the day before during a heated sparring session, in which the two of them vented their frustrations with one another. "There's no way he'll be able to stand up to the four of us combined."

With Kazuya sold on at least that possibility, the two brothers reconciled as best they could with their unpleasant rivalry put aside and focus on training their mind and bodies and prepare themselves for Nagalya's last stand. This development pleased Jun: she cared deeply for both of them, and seeing them act like siblings instead of enemies put her at ease.

One thing that didn't put her at ease, however, was the recurring nightmares that she continued to have. Even before the Wisp affair began, she had been plagued with images of a monstrous beast engulfing the city in a reign of fire and brimstone. The beast was unlike any of the Wisps she had encountered, and Jun doubted that the two weren't involved in some way.

_I had the same kind of nightmares when Ogre came and tore my body and soul to shreds, _Jun thought with a shudder: a reaction that did not escape the attention of Kazuya, though Lee was busy daydreaming with the earphones of his MP3 player feeding him his select tunes. _I have enough confidence in my psychic abilities to know that these visions have a high likelihood of becoming reality. If only I knew more about this beast…_

"Something is bothering you," Kazuya suddenly said, breaking Jun's train of thought. "Why don't you share it with the rest of us?"

"I would be glad to," Jun smiled at the man with whom she shared a relationship so deep that only the two of them knew the full details of it. "I can always confide in you, Kazuya." Taking off her sunglasses and putting them on the table, the former detective began her story while Kazuya sipped his tea. "I have been having recurring nightmares about a great monster destroying the world."

"Interesting indeed," Kazuya raised an eyebrow in curiosity, his interest piqued. "Is it anyone that we are familiar with, like Toshin or perhaps my grandfather?"

"I'm afraid not: it's a new beast entirely," Jun shook her head from side to side to indicate her answer. "I am worried, Kazuya: I cannot shake the feeling that this beast, whatever it is, is going to come to this city and tear it apart. The Wisps will be nothing but a bad memory compared to this monster."

"It is unfortunate that you do not know what this monster is," Kazuya said with a frown. "Better the devil we know than the devil we do not, as the saying goes…"

"Then perhaps you would prefer to make it a devil that you are familiar with."

An unknown female voice called out to the two of them, causing Jun and Kazuya to turn their heads to locate the source of the voice. Sitting at a table close to their own was a young woman with a light tan and slick black hair wearing a sleeveless ruby-colored dress with matching slippers and gloves. "You must be the ones who are fighting the agents of destruction."

"Who might you be, young lady?" Kazuya asked while he poked at Lee and got his attention away from his music and towards the woman. "You seem to know something about us, but we do not even know your name."

"My name is Zafina: I come from a land far away from here," the woman introduced herself before taking a sip of her tea. "You must be Kazuya Mishima, the devil made flesh: I have heard much about you."

"If you are trying to flatter me, you are failing miserably," the Cold-Blooded Prince responded as Lee took off his headphones to listen to the conversation. "Try using honorifics and please and thank you: perhaps then I will return your flattery with a smile."

"My intention is not to flatter you, devil," Zafina said with a scowl. "I came to this land to warn you of the impending doom that this city faces." Standing up out of her seat, the woman pulled her seat up to where the trio was sitting and introduced herself to Jun and Lee. "Jun Kazama, who wields the power to purify even the darkest of souls, and Lee Chaolan, who has been chosen by fate to wield the weapon of holiness: listen to my words, as they will shed light on the mystery that you have been trying to solve."

"Are you talking about the Wisps?" Lee suddenly asked, trying to piece together what Zafina was getting at. "I think we're pretty much done with those guys: all that is left to do is defeat Nagalya and it will all be over." With that assurance completed, Lee brushed his hair back and smiled at the woman. "You look very lovely in that dress, by the way."

Ignoring Lee's flirtatious and flattering remark, Zafina began her story. "There is a prophecy where I come from: when two evil stars meet, the god of destruction will awake from his slumber and reduce this world to ashes. The prophecy has been passed down through the ages, and it is taken quite seriously."

"Hmph! Prophecies are not a worth a thing unless they come true," Kazuya said a scoff. "Do not waste our time with your riddles. Get to the point so we can move on with our lives."

"Kazuya, please give her a chance to speak," Jun interjected before turning back to Zafina. "I am assuming that this prophecy holds relevance to what has been going on in this city, am I correct?"

"Indeed you are," Zafina nodded her head before turning to Kazuya and pointing an accusing finger to Kazuya. "Kazuya, you are one of the evil stars in the prophecy, and you have already clashed with several evil stars. I believe you are familiar with some of them."

"Jean Sorel, Ryoku Kazama, my son Jin when I completed his Devil Gene," Kazuya ran off a list of possible subjects before a smirk formed across his lips. "Upstarts to be sure, but I'm not sure they would qualify as 'evil stars of prophecy.' Besides, if I have met these evil stars, why has this world not been reduced to ashes?"

"It is said that the destroyer needs a fresh helping of souls before reaching the zenith of his power," Zafina explained as calmly as she could, though the matter at hand was pressing enough to justify any sort of nervousness. "The seal within his chamber is strong: he would need many souls to break free."

"I am guessing that he created Nagalya for this purpose," Jun hypothesized how such a beast would gather souls from so far away. "That woman and her Wisps has slain well over three hundred people these past two weeks: that must be the purpose of her actions. She has told us several times that she only wants to awaken her master."

"The prophecy also mentioned the destroyer having a priestess: the Nagalya woman you continuously refer to must be the one," Zafina concluded before turning around and reaching over to get her tea cup from the table she had been sitting at prior. "I am impressed that you three have been able to stave off her ambitions to bring this world to ruin. If not for you three, I am sure that we would all be doomed by now."

"From the way you put it, it sounds like we're going to be screwed anyway," Lee commented, putting things like tact aside in light of the severity of the topic. "Did you come here just to warn us about this? Seems like an awfully long way to go just for a message: you could have just called."

"I had to make sure my warning would be received: I could not rely on something like a phone or an electronic message," Zafina answered truthfully before a smile formed on her face. "Besides, would you not have preferred to see my face? You seem to be a man who enjoys the company of the opposite sex."

"I can't argue with that," Lee said with a shrug before putting his hands in his pockets. "However, I am trying to modify my love for women by focusing on just one."

"This destroyer: can you describe him to me?" Jun interrupted Zafina and Lee's conversation of idle banter in an attempt to get back to the matter at hand. "As you probably know, I have had recurring nightmares about a beast like the one you describe. I would feel more at ease if I could picture the monster in my mind."

"Of course, but you have to realize that my words cannot describe him to you," Zafina nodded her head before an unsettling smirk formed on her face while she outstretched her hand for Jun to touch. "Grab onto my hand and our minds will be linked via psychic connection: everything that I know about the beast, you will know as well. I should warn you, though: you probably will not like what you see."

"I understand perfectly," Jun reached out and wrapped her fingers around the woman's hand. "I have seen many things in my lifetime: I am certain that I shall be able to handle this one, assuming I have seen him before." Feeling the psychic connection starting to take effect, Jun closed her eyes and journeyed into Zafina's mind.

--

When Jun opened her eyes, she was no longer sitting at the sidewalk café with Kazuya and Lee, but standing in a massive room lit only by several torches on the walls. With the exception of the torches giving off peculiar blue-colored flames, the room was featureless: it seemed more like a giant prison cell than anything else.

"Welcome to my imagination, Jun Kazama," a familiar female voice spoke to her, causing Jun to turn around to see Zafina with her arms folded. "Sometimes I ventured into this chamber when I was a child, curious to see what all the fuss was about. However, I would never get any farther than this due to the stories the chieftain would tell me."

"What sort of stories are we talking about?" Jun asked as she followed Zafina to go deeper into the room. "I imagine they were not pleasant ones."

"What sort of story would be told if there was no drama?" Zafina said with a cryptic smile before her expression became more serious. "No, these stories were nothing short of horror stories, about the monster that lurked within this temple, and the destruction he would wreak should he ever be set free."

As if on cue, the shouts of men could be heard from the other side of the room. Jun wouldn't have to wonder what the shouts were about, however, as an instant later as orange flames appeared several meters away to reveal a group of men wearing what looked to be the clothing of ancient Egyptians. _Interesting: this must be Zafina's imagination picturing one of the stories she mentioned. _

"Many warriors have tried to find the beast, either out of scientific curiosity or ambitions of power and leverage," Zafina explained as the two of them walked closer to the group of men who were shouting amongst themselves. "However, none of them have come out of the temple alive…and for very good reason."

An inhuman sound echoed throughout the corridors of the room, and the group of men became frantic. A few moments later, the sound of footsteps could be heard: massive vibrations that caused Jun's teeth to rattle. _Something is here: something very big, _Jun looked around and tried to see where the footsteps were coming from. Normally she would try to feel out its aura, but Zafina's imagination would not allow such a luxury. _What could it be!?_

"Azazel," one of the men shouted before pointing upwards. "Azazel!"

Having been found out, the source of the footsteps stopped in front of the group of men and let the torches of the room intensify and reveal his features. Jun let out a shocked gasp: it had been a long time since she had felt so afraid, but she believed she had a good enough reason to be so. It was as if he had been ripped from a nightmare: more specifically, _her _nightmare!

The creature that the group of men referred to as "Azazel" was over twenty feet tall: a bipedal monstrosity that was dark blue in color. Flesh-covered talons acted as his feet, and his gigantic hands were tipped with pointed claws. A quintet of long, thick stalagmite-like spikes jutted out of each wrist and extended up past the elbows, and spikes protruded down his spine and continued to the end of his long and prehensile tail. Even more frightening than his size and body, however, was his face.

The creature's head was rodent-like in appearance, with a long pointed snout above a set of long, nail-like teeth. A blue-and-gold headdress normally reserved for the pharaohs sat on top of his head, while his red eyes glowing ominously and two long horns jutted out from just in front of the headdress. "There is no mistake: this is definitely the creature from my nightmares_,_" Jun said as Azazel let out another monstrous roar. "This is the creature that aims to destroy Tokyo, and the world!"

In desperation, one of the men in the group pulled out a spear and charged the monster with violent intent. However, it was like a gnat trying to attack a rhinerous: futile as it was foolish. Using his massive hand, Azazel scooped up the charging man and lifted him off the ground. The man screamed and cried while he struggled to break free, but was silenced in the wake of his head getting chewed off like a child biting off the top of a candy bar. Blood stained the monster's teeth as he consumed the rest of the man's body before turning to the other men of the group.

A second man, considerably bigger than the first, brandished his own spear and charged the creature just like his predecessor did. Despite his size, he fared no better than the first man and was scooped up in an identical fashion. Rather than feast on him right away, Azazel slammed him into the ground and rubbed him into it like he was scrubbing with him. Rather than suds, however, blood came out of the human rag and his face being in the floor muffled his screams.

After he feasted on that man, there were only four men left in the group. Instead of charging the beast, however, the four of them ran around the monster until they formed a square perimeter. Their hands glowed with mystic energy for a couple of seconds, and then fired beams of sorcery at the creature. The beams, like glowing chains, bound the monster's arms, and it looked as if man had won over monster.

The victory did not last long, however, as the monster threw his arms out and broke free of the beams. The four men shouted out something unintelligible at one another, trying to figure out what to do now. Azazel, however, didn't have any plans for them to do anything except perish where they stood.

With a wave of his massive hand, Azazel set one of the men on fire with a wave of dark magic. Rather than eat the burning man, the demon simply watched as the poor victim screamed, ran around in circles, and ultimately fell silent before falling to the floor dead. The other men called out his name, hoping vainly that he would respond, but it was far too late for him.

Angered by his comrade's death, one of the men fired off a volley of mystic bolts, shouting something obscene in his native language. While the stream of bolts got Azazel's attention, it did little from keeping him to perform his next attack: a series of thunderous stomps that trampled the rage-filled man until he was nothing but a sticky corpse.

There were two men left, and neither of them felt they could tackle the creature, so instead they tossed down their weapons and ran away as fast as they could. "Poor fools," Zafina commented on the two men as Jun watched in horror. "Once you get the attention of Azazel, there is no escape…except in death."

As soon as Zafina added that last bit of information, a swarm of crystal shards flew out of the shadows and blocked the path of the escape that the two men tried to utilize. One of the men tried to run through it, while the other cowered in place. The braver man was shredded in the cloud of shards, transformed into ground meat in only a few seconds.

The less-than-brave man was lifted into the air by Azazel's telepathy until he dangled helpless in the air. The man cried and begged for his life, hoping that the monster that killed his friends would for some reason decide that he was not worth the trouble. His pleas were heard on deaf ears, however, as Azazel fired off a beam of white energy from his eyes that struck the man and sent him flying into one of the pillars in the room.

After the man's death, Azazel was silent for a few moments, contemplating his next move. Breaking the silence with a roar, the monster charged towards the path of escape his victims were going to use, breaking the cloud of shards he had used to trap them. Just when it seemed he would escape, however, he was sent flying backwards with a flash of light. "Fortunately, the barrier that keeps him in the chamber is too powerful even for him to break," Zafina said to clear up any confusion Jun might have. "People can get in, but they can't get out!"

Suddenly, Azazel turned his head in Jun's direction, eliciting a gasp of shock from the former detective. Charging towards Zafina and her with violent intent, Azazel lifted his hand and prepared to scoop them up and bite their heads off…

--

"NO!"

Jun's eyes shot open as she took deep, haggard breaths. Quickly realizing that she was back with Kazuya and Lee, the former detective wiped the sweat from her brow and regained her composure. "That was quite a rush, yes?" Zafina asked, noticing the tension in Jun's face. "Did you like the part at the end where he was preparing to feast on our flesh? That was usually the part where the village elder would surprise us with a big 'boo.'"

"…how can we stop this creature?" Jun asked bluntly, not in the mood for Zafina's slightly demented sense of humor. "How can we keep what happened to those men from happening to this city?"

"Simple: prevent his priestess from gathering enough souls," Zafina answered just as bluntly before taking a sip of her tea. "As long as he does not obtain enough souls that have been dipped in suffering and sin before harvesting, he will remain in his barrier and not bother anyone outside of his chamber."

"What did you two girls do?" Lee interjected. "Only three seconds passed, and suddenly the two of you became all sweaty!"

"I, too, am curious about what transpired," Kazuya added. "Jun, why don't you explain what happened to Lee while I try to see what you saw…"

As Jun explained the sights she saw to Lee, Zafina took Kazuya's hand and showed him what she had showed Jun. However, Kazuya did not shout out once the vision was broken: in fact, a low chuckle emerged from the bottom of his throat. "It is a pity that this Azazel would destroy the world: I wouldn't have minded facing him in battle."

"Keep in mind that he was only using five percent of his real power when he dispatched those intruders," Zafina said before standing up and taking her cup of tea with her. "I look forward to seeing how you deal with this crisis, warriors. I hope my information helped you."

"What will you be doing, Zafina?" Jun asked as she finished telling Lee about the horrors she saw.

"I will remain here in Tokyo: if the world is going to end, I would at least like to watch it from the beginning in this city where strong warriors gather," Zafina answered before waving goodbye and giving the trio of fighters one last vote of confidence. "For all of our sakes, I hope you succeed in stopping Nagalya: if not, then we are all, as the people in America say, 'up shit creek without a paddle.'"


	19. Curse

In order for a city to expand, sometimes it must say farewell to eras past to make way for newer, greater things. This held especially true for the massive city of Tokyo, where the population of the masses continued to swell at a rapid rate, leaving the local government scrambling to build new homes and buildings for the almost endless stream of people who came to Tokyo to make it their new home. However, there are times when there is no longer any available land to build a new structure, and thus older ones are torn down to create the proper amount of space.

Just as there was a graveyard for living creatures, so there was one for any material from the demolished structure that could still be put to use in other forms. However, the proper name of such a monument was not nearly as intriguing as a word such as "cemetery," but rather a more vulgar term that denoted the heaps and heaps of refuge that congregated to such a specific area: a "junkyard."

The fists and feet of one succubus named Nagalya had just demolished one of the many dead motor vehicles that had been lay to rest, and reduced it to a heap of scrap metal. After Heihachi Mishima acknowledged her martial arts prowess, the pale-skinned sociopath was in an exceedingly pleasant mood. Never in her existence had she felt so alive, and so primed for battle.

_Very soon, I will issue my challenge to Jun Kazama, Kazuya Mishima, and Lee Chaolan, _Nagalya thought as she opened up what was left of the vehicle and looked at the motors and gears inside. Putting her hands around the motor, Nagalya pulled and tugged until she ripped it out and held it high above her head. _I'll neutralize the first two, and leave the last one to my tender mercies. _Tossing the motor high above her head using all of her strength, Nagalya fired off a streak of lightning and laughed as it exploded in a shower of metal and plastic. _I will show Scrumptious how grateful I am for his valiant deed, by taking his heart and claiming it as my own!_

As a master planner and schemer, Nagalya had been proud to simply let her Wisps do her dirty work for her. With their powers and abilities and her cunning and intelligence, they were formidable opponents for anyone who would dare stand in their way. Even if one of the Wisps went down, there would always be another waiting in the wings to replace him or her. Most of the time, the tandem would at least accomplish one of their goals.

When the Nightmare Wisp defected, however, Nagalya knew that the only person she could really trust to carry out her missions was herself. Once simply an above-average fighter, Nagalya turned herself into a world-class martial artist in only three days. The dragon succubus' already massive ego had swelled to gigantic proportions with this knowledge, and she loved it.

_This is probably what I should have done from the get-go, _she thought as she shattered the remains of the dead motor vehicle with one final side punch. _The Wisps were fun and unique, but what my master truly wants is a quick and speedy awakening. I could have done all of the chores I sent the Wisps out to do, had I not been so unsure of my fighting abilities._

"_My priestess," _a familiar and haunting voice filled Nagalya's head as she looked into the setting sun. _"Listen to my words, and listen to them well."_

"Master," Nagalya said out loud, pleased that her lord would once again grace her with words. "How may I serve you, mighty god of death and suffering?"

"_My resurrection is close at hand: the lives that you and the Wisps have harvested for me have served me well. You are doing a splendid job so far." _The voice of the destroyer Azazel praised his priestess: something that he had never done before.

"Thank you for your kind words, master," Nagalya responded as professionally as she could without giving away the absolute glee that she was feeling. "The Wisps and I have been working very hard to release you from your prison and herald your arrival in this city dripping with sin."

"_Do not celebrate yet, my priestess," _the voice eased the succubus' glee by returning to his usual, cold tone of voice. _"I still need more souls steeping in suffering, yet you have not been trying to collect these souls. Why are you hesitating?"_

"I have been training hard, master," she responded truthfully. "You see, the three warriors that intend to prevent your resurrection still live. I would like to face them myself, and prove to you how devoted I am to your cause by throwing myself in harm's way."

"_What about the Wisps? Why are you not using them for this kind of chore?"_

"One of the Wisps betrayed me and almost ended my existence," Nagalya explained, hoping that she would eventually be able to convince her lord that her way was the best way of doing things. "If one would turn against us, then the rest would surely follow suit. We cannot rely on them anyone: this is something that must be done by myself."

After a moment's pause, Azazel's voice gave Nagalya his verdict. _"Normally you spin webs of deceit, but now you are showing emotions that you should not be showing."_

"Whatever do you mean, my lord?"

"_Two days ago you traded fists with Heihachi Mishima, the King of the Iron Fists whose soul is among the most powerful in the world. Such a prize could have made my release much easier, and yet you let him go. Why did you do this?"_

For this, Nagalya had no answer that would please her lord. He would surely sense she would be lying had she said anything different, so Nagalya told the truth. "I did not approach him to take his soul: I approached him so that I could gauge my strength against one of the greatest martial artists this world has ever seen. If I could compete with someone like him, then the three interlopers would not be much different."

"_You are showing mercy and compassion," _Azazel roared in Nagalya's mind, forcing her to lose her focus let out a scream of agony. Her master was angry, and for the first time ever, Nagalya truly feared what he was about to do to her. _"When I created you, you were not supposed to feel these kinds of things, as these are the emotions of the sinners called humans."_

_Is that what I am becoming?, _Nagalya wondered as her confidence dwindled in light of her master's accusation. _This feeling of respect towards my enemies, and the raw emotion I feel whenever I think about Lee Chaolan. Are these the qualities of a…human!?_

Before she could think on the matter further, Nagalya's eyes widened as she felt a dark aura lurking closeby. _What an evil ki signature, _she muttered as she scanned her surrounding to find the man or woman that was approaching her. _I made it a point of making a psychic barrier that would keep people from coming here: whoever breached it must have quite the fellow._

"You are as beautiful as I have heard, mademoiselle…"

Turning around and looking up, Nagalya found her quarry standing on top of a garbage heap: a thin young man with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail using a red ribbon, with skin as pale as hers and eyes that glowed like red moonlight. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with the first few buttons undone to reveal his chiseled abs, and black dress pants to cover his legs. With his red gloves tipping the fingers with silver claws, and a sharp rapier at his hip, Nagalya doubted the man was there to admire her beauty.

"I am flattered that a complete stranger knows who I am," Nagalya said after a few seconds of silent tension, "especially since I have killed anyone and everyone who has known of my existence. That must mean one of my three rivals told you about me."

"I am afraid that is not the case, mademoiselle," the man replied before jumping off of the garbage heap and landing gracefully on his feet a few meters away from the priestess of destruction. "My organization, you see, has been carefully monitoring your movements you first started summoning Wisps. We could have found you anytime we wanted."

"You still have not told me your name, stranger," she responded with a frown forming in her lips: whomever the man was, he knew far too much to be left alone. "Tell me what your name is, so I can report it to the authorities and make sure you get a proper burial. I'm sure someone as handsome as you would be missed."

"Ah, where are my manners? You are absolutely right," the man put his arms across his waist and lowered the upper half of his body in an exaggerated bow for Nagalya while he introduced himself. "My name is Jean Sorel, the vice president of G-Corporation." Raising his head up so that he could that the woman could see his smile, the man called Jean made his intentions clear. "My leader, the president of G-Corporation whose name shall not be mentioned due to confidentiality, wishes for me to slay you."

"How nice for him," Nagalya smirked before stretching her arms out and letting out a yawn. "Unfortunately, I have no intentions of dying anytime soon. After all, I have an obligation to resurrect the god that will reduce this world to ashes and exterminate pretty much everything that lives in this world."

"See, that kind of talk is why he wants to kill you," Jean commented on Nagalya's lack of interest with a sigh and a shake of his head. "The president of my company is a great man: he cares little for his own ambitions, and instead focuses on what is best for his organization and for mankind." Pointing an accusing finger at the succubus, the sword-bearing man continued. "We at G-Corporation cannot allow your mad ambitions to succeed. Therefore, I have been entrusted with the noble task of taking you out."

Nagalya raised an eyebrow and stared at Jean for several seconds without saying a word. _Something about his aura is familiar, now that I've taken a good look at him, _she muttered as she continued to inspect the person in front of her that had just made a threat to take her life. _It's not too different from my own ki signature: I wonder why that is…_

"You know, now that I am looking at you closer, your aura seems very similar to my own," Jean broke the silence with the very same thing that Nagalya had been thinking about. "That eye ornament on your choker: it radiates the same evil aura as my trusty weapon Flambert."

Pulling his rapier out of his scabbard, Jean let its polished form reflect the orange sunlight of dusk and marveled at its metallic luster. "Perhaps it is because that they share a common history," he said before putting his nose just above the blade and taking a deep whiff. As he did so, his crimson irises glowed a little bit brighter before dimming down once he let out a long and satisfied breath. "It could also be because the both of us have bathed in the righteously-spilled blood of our enemies. Either way, one of us will add a new flavor of blood to our taste buds before the day is over."

"I look forward to seeing what the reason behind the similarities are, handsome," Nagalya said before letting out a gentle but sinister laugh and assuming her fighting stance. "On this fine Monday evening, your evil soul will be harvested and fed to my master. I shall redeem myself in his eyes, while at the same time satisfy my lust for combat!" Lifting her hand and motioning it towards the swordsman while he assumed his own fighting stance, Nagalya issued her challenge. "Come on: let's dance the day away and usher in the night with some blood!"

Before either of them could trade fists or blades, however, Jean pulled out a small remote from his pocket and pressed a button on it. Responding the signal, the loudspeakers that were installed throughout the junkyard started playing a steady rock beat accompanied with a bevy of electric guitar riffs. "If we are going to dance, we might as well do it right," Jean said with a cruel grin as he shifted his feet with the beat until he created his own rhythmic dance. "Now we are ready to tango!"

After a couple of seconds of idle movement, Jean lunged out at Nagalya and slid his rapier across her collarbone. The thrust drew black blood and elicited a quick shout of pain from the woman. When she tried to kick him in the head for such an underhanded attack, Jean swayed backwards and resumed his idle dance. "I guess you're a fencer," she concluded using her astute powers of observation. With a cruel smile of her own, Nagalya altered her own fighting stance so that she was gently bouncing up and down to the beat. "That will make taking you down that much more interesting!"

Carefully advancing while making sure she wouldn't be fodder for her foe's weapon, Nagalya spun around and successfully parried Jean's horizontal slash with her metallic gloves. Surprised by the sudden parrying, the blonde swordsman was left open to a spinning half-knuckle blow that sent him flying backwards. Landing on his free hand and flipping back into his feet, Jean rubbed where he had been hit and smiled. "I see that even without your Wisps, you are a formidable opponent. This is excellent news!"

Tossing aside her doubts, Nagalya charged at Jean with a full run and attempted to send him sprawling with a leaping side kick. However, the swordsman moved to the side and dodged the kick, allowing him to move to Nagalya's right. Ducking down and sweeping the succubus off of her feet, Jean jumped on her spine and spun around on his heels to inflict significant damage to her back before jumping back off and kicking her body away.

_He's got some pretty good footwork, too, _Nagalya muttered as she rubbed her back while standing. Moving her head out of the way of Jean's thrust, the succubus grabbed onto the fencer's outstretched arm and used it to hold him in place while her leg shot up and kicked him squarely in the nose. The impact of the attack sent him stumbling backwards and cursing quietly. _Maybe I can have some fun with him and get a good workout._

With her foe stunned from the previous kick, Nagalya capitalized with a trio of punches to his exposed chest. When she tried to cave in his chest cavity with one final punch, however, Nagalya found her hand caught by Jean who twisted her wrist before using his rapier that was now infused with his sparkling emerald ki to slit her wrist: her metallic gloves may have protected her forearms, but the material covering the wrists was considerably thinner.

"I just slit your wrist: you will bleed to death very shortly," Jean said while he let go of Nagalya's hand and strike her in the head with a high-arcing side kick. "Our dance, however brief it was, was worth every second. I shall spare you such a fate by killing you with a single strike." Lifting his blade in preparation for a fatal cut, Jean watched as Nagalya gripped her hand and waited for her to stumble towards him. "Farewell, mademoiselle!"

However, what Jean felt next was not the thrill of victory, but a swift kick to his groin that caused him to buckle down. Returning the favor done to her earlier, Nagalya lifted her leg and kicked the fencer in the head as he was on his knees to force his entire body onto the ground. "As long as my master has use for me, things like cut wrists will not bother me," Nagalya pointed out her wrist that was already beginning to close up thanks to the sorcery that flowed in her veins. "You'll have to try harder than that!"

Answering the woman's challenge, Jean let out a fearsome shout and launched his adversary in the air with an upward slash. With Nagalya airborne, Jean kept her afloat with a trio of quick swipes immediately followed by a jumping roundhouse kick that sent her spiraling to the ground. The female sociopath landed flat on her back and let out a groan of pain, but quickly regained her focused and rolled backwards and onto her feet to avoid Jean's low stab.

Nagalya smiled to herself as her foot made contact with her foe's abdomen to send him rolling backwards like tumbleweed. Chasing after her foe, Nagalya managed to beat Jean to his footing and trampled the man underfoot with a stampeding stomp. Picking Jean off of the ground by his ponytail, the woman licked her lips as she heard him yell out in pain. "If you're going to fight like a maniac, you might as well act like one," she said before putting him in a side headlock and driving his face into the dirt with a Bulldog. As they made contact with the ground, she let loose a maniacal cackle and stood back up ready for more.

Jean returned the cackle with a low chuckle as he slowly got back up to his feet. Lifting his rapier up, the fencer suddenly lashed out at poked Nagalya with a quick stab to the arm. Before Nagalya could even cover where she had been poked, Jean's rapier poked another part of her body, and another and another until the stings became a practical blur to her eyesight. Jean's chuckling climaxed into a cackle not at all sane as the stings increased, and he emphasized his frenzy with a loud "yes!" as one final stab sent her sprawling backwards.

_I have never fought someone like him, _Nagalya thought as she flipped back onto her feet only to receive a wild hook to her jaw that sent her spiraling right back down to the ground and onto her belly. _He's as gifted weaponless as he is armed: I guess now I know how my rivals feel when I sic weapon-bearing Wisps on them. _Pushing herself off the ground and flipping over just in time to kick Jean away just as he was about to mount her, Nagalya stood back up and resumed her fighting stance. _It doesn't make a difference, though: if they can manage, then so can I!_

Crackling with purple energy as she charged her ki, Nagalya ducked under Jean's high slash and punched him in the stomach as hard she could to elicit a loud cough from the mad fencer. With her foe stunned from the attack, the succubus pummeled her adversary's face with a rapid series of swift and painful punches. The speed of the punches became faster and faster, until they were as much as a blur as the flurry of stabs that Jean had utilized earlier.

_This is the series of attacks that caused Heihachi Mishima to submit, _she thought with a smile as she sent Jean rocketing high into the air with a wicked side uppercut after the fortieth hit. _I doubt this clown be walking away from this, though! _With her body still crackling with power, Nagalya reared back and waited for Jean to reach the exact area where she would meet crush him with her greatest attack. Taking flight by utilizing her peerless athleticism, Nagalya struck the fencer in mid-air with her most powerful technique: a ki-infused flying dragon kick she had dubbed "the Soaring Serpent" after her battle with Heihachi.

"It was fun while it lasted, handsome," Nagalya said with a smile as she landed gracefully while Jean crashed into a heap of garbage. "You're a pretty good fighter: it's a darn shame that your soul is going to be reduced to an tasty snack for my master."

Hearing a loud groan of pain come from where Jean landed, Nagayla sultrily walked towards the heap of garbage while cracking her neck. "Still alive, I see," she said while she hiked up the pile of waste so that she could meet the man that had tried to take her life at the summit. "It's just as well, I suppose: I didn't want to kill you without properly saying goodbye."

Once she reached the summit of the mountain of garbage, Nagalya looked down at Jean's fallen body and the shallow breaths being taken by him. His aura had died down significantly: he would not have much longer in this world. Lifting up her adversary by his neck, Nagalya slowed moved her face closer to his and whispered seductively. "I think a goodbye kiss would be a suitable farewell…pucker up, hands-ACK!"

Before the two enemies could lock lips, Nagalya was forced to relinquish her hold on Jean in wake of his clawed fingers piercing her stomach like small spears. "Haven't you ever heard of playing possum, mademoiselle?" Jean said as his aura once again returned to its former intensity while he stood back up and pushed his fingers further into Nagalya. "I nearly killed the great Kazuya Mishima in the last tournament: it will take more than a few lucky hits to bring me down!"

After he said that, Jean lifted his foot and kicked Nagalya off of his hand, causing her to fall from the garbage heap and plummet back down to the ground where she landed with a thud. Jumping from the heap with his rapier in tow, Jean laughed an evil cackle as the succubus struggled to get back onto her feet. "What happened to your confidence, mademoiselle?" Jean asked while he used his rapier as an imaginary guitar as the rock music blaring across the junkyard continued to play. "I thought you were going to harvest my soul!"

Nagalya let out a shout of anger and attempted to knock out Jean with a ki-infused straight punch despite the bleeding in her mid-section, but the fencer easily weaved through the punch and made Nagalya pay for her insolence with another high-striking savate kick. _I just need to stay calm, _the succubus told herself as she looked at the blood on her hand. _I survived the Nightmare Wisp impaling me on his sword, so I can survive this no problem!_

In an act of unmatched cruelty, Jean lifted his rapier and impaled Nagalya's upper left leg onto it. The woman had no choice but to instinctively cry out in pain as the blade entered her skin through one end and exited out the other, forcing the leg to go limp and have her fall down on one knee. "It would be a shame to kill you outright," Jean said as he let go of his rapier, knowing that it was just fine where it remained. "In fact, it would be a downright travesty."

"It…would also be very wise to kill me," Nagalya said through grinding teeth as she tried her hardest to keep herself from screaming. "If you do not, then I will certainly kill you in a very, very painful way."

"I do not think so," the swordsman replied as he gently caressed Nagalya's face and smiled at the agony she was in. "You see, earlier I noticed a similarity between your fragment and my sword, and I think I have figured out why." Moving his hand down to her neck, Jean continued. "You see, my family has a hereditary curse that causes them to turn into something not entirely human. As you might have noticed, I am not exactly a normal person."

"Is that right?" Nagalya managed to smile through the pain and raise an eyebrow. "Here I thought pale skin and red eyes were a common trait. What makes you so special?"

"I believe that your fragment and my illness are connected in some way: after all, the Sorel family records say that this curse started from exposure to the legendary weapon Soul Edge, and there's no reason for me to believe that thing on your choker isn't related," Jean said before wincing in pain and gripping his back. "Ah…your attacks are powerful: I'm still feeling the effects from them. If not for my curse, I might be dead now…"

"I keep hearing so much hype about this Soul Edge: whatever it is, it's just a mere trinket compared to the wrath of my master," Nagalya spat back, visibly annoyed at how everyone talked about the fragment she was created from like it was more important than the god of destruction who used to create her. "What makes it so special, anyway?"

"Well, you're about to find out," the swordsman replied with a smile as his eyes suddenly burned with wicked intentions. "You see, since my curse took hold of me, I have had uncontrollable fits of bloodlust. I have worked hard to restrain them, but one day I indulged myself on one of the employees." Putting her hands on Nagalya's shoulders, Jean's eyes narrowed as he told the rest of his story. "The end result was that a smart part of my powers were passed on to the said employee, but it turned her into my willing servant. Now, anything I say, she will do with no questions asked."

"Big deal: I can do that even without 'indulging in my bloodlust,'" Nagalya said unimpressed. "If you are trying to intimidate me, then you'll have to do better than that!"

"I'm not trying to intimidate you: I am simply telling you what your fate is going to be," Jean responded with an evil grin before lifting his head high in the air as if he was about to gorge himself in a big meal like a pig. "I think I'll be taking that kiss from you now: let the experiment begin!"

With those words of initiation, the mad swordsman threw his head down and plunged his teeth into Nagalya's neck, eliciting a blood-curdling scream of agony from the succubus. _What is this freak doing?, _she asked herself as she tried to break free, only to realized that she was paralyzed. _He's injecting something into me to keep me from fighting back, and at the same time sucking my blood like some vampire!_

Nagalya's screams became softer and softer as dizziness took hold of her and caused her to become noxious. Not only was Jean drinking her bodily fluids like a leech, but he was also invading her mind. _I can't focus my ki like this, _she thought as her vision continued to blur. _I can't believe that this wannabe supervillain is beating me like this!_

"_Surrender to the evil influence."_

_That voice belongs to master Azazel, _Nagalya recognized the booming voice of her lord and responded the best she could with her focus becoming hazy. _My lord, what do you mean surrender? If I go down, then our plans will have all been for nothing!_

"_Surrender to the evil influence, my priestess," _the voice responded. _"Do so and you will become more powerful than ever, and we shall finally harvest the souls necessary for my resurrection!" _

Following her master's orders, Nagalya stopped struggling and let Jean continue to feast on her blood. Even though it was painful at first, the succubus was soon filled with a warm sensation that put her at ease. She did not let her mind wander thinking about when Jean would let go: all that mattered now was that she made her master happy.

After what seemed like hours, but was in truth only seconds, Jean gently removed his teeth from Nagalya's neck and wiped his mouth. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked while he removed his rapier from Nagalya's leg. The woman did not scream, and that lack of response was exactly what made him smile. "Come with me, mademoiselle: I am sure that the president would be quite interested in seeing you like this."

Jean turned around and took twenty steps away from Nagalya, but stopped when he realized that she was not following. "Are you listening to me, mademoiselle?" Jean scratched his head in curiosity before marching in front of her and changing his tone of voice to a colder one. "Servant, I am ordering you to follow me!"

Turning his gaze slightly downward, Jean noticed that the woman's ornament was flashing like a strobe light. Shielding his eyes as the flashes increased in frequency and intensity, the swordsman let out a quiet gasp as he noticed that Nagalya's ki was increasing at an alarming speed. "What are you doing? I am ordering you to stop!"

Nagalya, however, was not listening: she was off in her own little world while her ornament suddenly began to mutate and spread across her body like a virus. The metaphorical virus coated her body in maroon-colored smile, and even though the flashing stopped, her ki was still increasing. When the ooze covered her entire body, a flash of fire blinded Jean and caused him to stumble backwards.

When the light faded, Jean opened his eyes and let out a louder gasp of shock as he took another look at Nagalya: in her place stood a fearsome-looking female completely covered in maroon armor from head to toe. The only places where there was a change in color were her breasts, which were instead covered with two fiery red eyes with the whites being light blue. Her entire face was covered with a jet-black visor that was situated between a helmet shaped like a dragon's head with the top half of the jaw covering her skull and the bottom half covering his chin.

"What in the world just happened?" Jean asked to no one in particular as a pair of bright orange swords suddenly jutted out of her elbows to reflect the fading sun. "Who in the world are you!?" Rather than answer immediately, the armored warrior that was once Nagalya suddenly ran in front of Jean at blinding speed and sent him flying backwards with a one-inch punch: if not for the skid marks on the ground, the swordsman would have sworn she teleported in front of him.

"I am Soul Ripper, the angel of death," the woman reintroduced herself as Jean struggled to get back onto his feet. He was already tired from his previous bout with Nagalya: there was no way he would be able to stand up to her empowered form. "The evil in your veins completed the fragment of evil that was embedded into this body, and thus gave birth to me."

Instead of rushing in for the kill, however, the woman paused and listened to her great master's words. _"Leave him for now: we must harvest more souls. You may pursue him after my revival, if you wish." _With a nod of her head, the Soul Ripper turned around and left the area with an impossibly fast run to literally leave Jean in the dust.

Jean remained still for several minutes: even though both his friends and enemies knew him as a very talkative fellow, for once he was left speechless. The first words that came out of his mouth, however, was not a joke or a taunt that he would usually begin with, but a quiet "what have I done?"

"Jean Sorel," a deep voice called out to him, causing him to turn his head and see the president of G-Corporation wearing a black business suit and walking towards him. Once he was directly in front of his vice president, the dark-skinned man repeated what Jean had said. "What have you done?"

"I…will not make excuses, sir," Jean got down on one knee and bowed his head in respect. "I have failed you miserably. The target has escaped, and now we have lost her."

"You did more than fail me, Jean," the president replied coldly. "You made the matter worse. I told you to kill her, but instead you went against my orders and tried to infect her with your curse. This made her more powerful and dangerous than ever. Our world may be doomed."

As he said that, a pitch black hole appeared in the ground underneath his hand, and the hole widened until something came out of it: a long silver scythe that elevated out of the ground until the staff part of the weapon was high enough for the president to grip it. Jean had seen the weapon once before: the president used it once to kill a corrupt board member in a staff meeting to prove a point. Even though the president was normally a very understanding man, he had a dark side to him that revealed itself only when the scythe had been summoned.

"You have every right to be angry, sir," Jean said as he continued to avert his eyes from his leader's piercing gaze. "However, I would like to redeem myself by defeating her. This time I will make no mistakes: I will bring Bryan with me, as well our most advanced Jack unit."

"…you are too useful and loyal an executive to be killed," the president said as he turned around, signaling Jean to get back up with a wave of his hand. "You are to go back to your office, where you will remain until I summon you again. Do you understand this, Vice President Jean Sorel?"

"I understand perfectly, sir," Jean let out a sigh of relief before putting his rapier back in his scabbard and walking next to the president. "However, what will we do about this threat to the world?"

"We shall do what we should have done: leave it to our enemies," the president answered bluntly as he watched the sun for one last time before it completely fell behind the horizon to usher in the night. "Hopefully they will be able to conquer the Soul Ripper. They have come this far without our help, so perhaps they can survive this, too."

"Sir, I am sure that you are aware of my hatred for Kazuya Mishima and Jun Kazama," Jean said with a hiss as he clenched his fist. "After all, it was while I was battling them that my curse took hold. I hope them personally responsible for it." Breaking away from that tangent, Jean asked a new question. "However, if they have your blessing, then I will put my faith in them…but what if they somehow fail?"

"If they fail," the President began before pausing to think about it. Lifting his head once again, he restarted his answer. "If they fail, then the most we can do is pray to whatever deity we worship that Azazel is in a merciful mood when he awakens..."


	20. Ripper

**Author's note: this chapter contains scenes of graphic and bloody violence. Reader discretion is advised.**

**--**

"Brrr," Lee shuddered as he, Jun, and Kazuya parked in front of their humble abode and prepared the exit their vehicle. They had spent the entire day at the library searching for information on the creature Azazel, the god that their enemy Nagalya had been trying to resurrect the past few weeks. Unlike information on the Wisps, there were several tales about the beast that Zafina described, and they packed their library cards checking out books for further study.

"Did you guys just feel a chilly breeze just now?" Lee asked his two comrades, despite the likelihood of such a breeze being within a vehicle was highly unlikely. "I feel like I'm freezing inside."

"Summer is quickly approaching: it has been getting warmer and warmer," Kazuya answered with a roll of his eyes. "You are imagining things: you were probably cold from the air conditioning."

With all three of them stepping out of their car, Lee shuddered once again. "It's really warm outside, but I'm still cold! This is really weird."

"Perhaps you are not feeling well," Jun hypothesized the state of Lee's condition before putting her hand on the silver-haired playboy's forehead. After keeping it there for a few seconds, Jun removed her hand and shrugged. "You do not seem sick: I do not know what the problem is."

As soon as she finished that sentence, Jun's eyes widened as she turned her head to the northeast. _What in the world, _she muttered as she stared off into the distance as if there was something there. _I just felt the oddest presence: a ki signature with an aura so massive that it's almost as great as my father's…perhaps just as strong, if not stronger!_

"What is it, Jun?" Kazuya asked with a raised eyebrow. "You are not one to suddenly drift off without having a good reason. Do you sense something?"

"You do not feel it, Kazuya?" Jun whispered, even though there was no apparent reason to do so. "That immense, evil ki that is coming from the northeast?"

Kazuya turned his head to where Jun was pointing, and then closed his eyes. Afte a few seconds of silence, he opened them again and nodded his head. "I sense it now: it probably means trouble. However, it seems to be moving around, so I am not sure that we will be able to track it using only our senses."

"_The great evil has awakened once again," _a familiar voice spoke inside Lee's head as he continued to shiver. _"You must find her: show no mercy to the bearer of the evil flame, the devourer of souls…"_

"Hey guys," Lee called out to Jun and Kazuya. "That voice in my head is talking to me. It's telling me that I need to find some 'great evil' that has just reawakened. Do you guys think it has something to do with Azazel?"

"I doubt it," Jun replied before folding her arms. "This ki signature is powerful, but not so powerful as something that would 'turn the world into ashes.' It's possible that it is yet another Wisp, but Nagalya told us that she wasn't going to use them anymore. Even if she did, though, she would have called us out."

As if to answer the trio's plight, a metallic tune could be heard coming from Kazuya's pocket. Recognizing the tune as his ring tone, Kazuya pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open to greet the caller with a cold and to-the-point "Speak to me."

"Hello, Kazuya," the deep, male voice on the other end began. "I am sure that you know who this is."

"…the President of G-Corporation," Kazuya said with a grimace, causing Jun and Lee to turn to him in curiosity. "Why do you call me? I am not your puppet anymore: I am the one who is going to kill you. Unless you would like to name a time and place for me to do so, I suggest you never call this number again."

"I am calling to inform you that I have found that she-devil Nagalya," the voice explained his reason for calling, which garnered a raised eyebrow from Kazuya as he listened closely. "By now you three must have felt a massive ki signature: it is coming from her. Her strength has increased one-hundred fold, and now she is heading to harvest more souls."

"Where is she?" Kazuya asked coldly.

"Judging from the direction she is running in, she is heading straight for Mishima High School. There will be plenty of fresh, young souls for her to reap, even at this hour." The President of G-Corporation finished his hypothesis with a piece of information. "If you wish to prevent the resurrection of Azazel, I suggest that you hurry over there."

"How would you know about Azazel?" Kazuya asked a new question, but his voice lost none of its coldness. "You seem to know a lot about this matter, and yet you do nothing but let your enemies do your dirty work."

"None of us want to see this world destroyed: after all, there is no profit to made in total annihilation," the voice answered truthfully before chuckling softly. "Answering your first question, I know more than you can possibly dream. If you had remained in our good graces, I would have shared some of my knowledge with you."

Hanging up his phone upon realizing that the president was going to do nothing but irritate him, Kazuya gave a simple order to Jun and Lee. "We are going to Mishima High School. Get in the car and prepare for the final battle with that witch Nagalya!"

--

_"I am Soul Edge, the blade of death and ruin. Surrender your soul to me and let me indulge your bloodlust."_

_"Priestess, my resurrection is at hand. Use your newfound power to harvest more souls so that I may walk the earth and fulfill my destiny."_

"It's getting awfully crowded in here," Nagalya said with a groan as she continued to jump from building to building using running leaps. "Could we please have some quiet while I try to think?"

It had only been forty minutes since she had been transformed into the Soul Ripper thanks to Jean Sorel's bite infecting her with enough evil energy to complete the Soul Edge fragment that acted as her life source and transform it into a weapon that would best fit Nagalya's method of combat, which was in her case a form-fitting suit of armor.

Just as Lee Chaolan had become the Soul Breaker, she was now the Soul Ripper, the angel of death. However, it had come with a price. Nagalya's sanity was dwindling thanks to the many voices that now occupied her head. In fact, when she first transformed, it was the suit that spoke to Jean in her place. _This is such a rush, _she thought as she continued to leap across buildings using her flawless athleticism. _In fact, it's too much of a rush! It's like my body is moving on it's own!_

Not only was her master speaking to her, but a new voice was talking: a voice claiming to be the Soul Edge where her fragment originated from. She was having trouble telling which voice was her own, and which was that of her master. It had created chaos in her mind that she could only describe as "severe schizophrenia."

Suddenly, Nagalya screeched to a halt due to her running out of buildings. Looking down to see where the suit had led her, the succubus let out a gasp at what she saw: a wide-open space of pavement leading to a large schoolhouse. _I've seen this place before, _she thought as she noticed the large golden statue of Heihachi Mishima in the center of the school grounds. _This is Mishima High School!_

Even though classes had been closed for a few hours, there was still a great deal of students on school grounds. Near the statue were a group of students practicing dance moves, and not far from where they were standing was another group performing what looked to be a synchronized kata. Several more students were scattered across the front area jogging, talking, and staring off into the newly born night sky.

"_The souls are here are young and fresh," _the voice that had claimed to be Soul Edge said to Nagalya while she prepared to swoop down with one final leap and land in the center of the grounds. _"They will surely satiate the tastes of your master that will bring this world to ruin."_

"_Listen to your weapon, my priestess," _the voice that Nagalya thought was Azazel said. _"At this point, it will not matter how many sins the souls of these children have committed. All you have to do is make sure their deaths are full of pain and suffering."_

"But they are just kids," Nagalya argued. "It doesn't seem very sportsmanlike to just-AGH!"

"_You are the angel of death," _both voices said in unison as Nagalya screamed in agony thanks to the psychic backlash the two entities were creating within her head. _"You can no longer discriminate between good and evil." _Falling silent as her eyes glowed softly from underneath the shade of her helmet, Nagalya listened to the voices._ " Go now, and embrace your destiny as the advent of the end!" _

Finally jumping off of the final building, the Soul Ripper plummeted back down to the earth ready to feed on her next victims. Landing gracefully on her feet in a kneeling position, she slowly stood back up and let the Mishima High students wonder who this strange woman in a crazy suit was. After a few moments of murmuring, the woman issued a psychic greeting, and a warning.

_"I'm the Soul Ripper, the angel of death. I am the brutal enforcer of all divine laws, with a mystic voice in my head,"_ she said with unspoken words before slowly advancing to the closest student. With her elbow blade lifted high into the air, the Soul Ripper brought it back down on the student's head and vertically bisected him as she continued her greeting. _"I'm the Soul Ripper, the bringer of death. So you better never, ever meet me, because then you'll take your final breath!"_

Whatever consciousness Nagalya had entering the school had now been lost in favor of the new presence in her head called the Soul Ripper. Her lust for combat did not matter, nor did the affections she felt for a certain silver-haired warrior matter. All that was relevant was the resurrection of her master, and the brutal savagery that would usher in his arrival.

Turning her attention to the group of students practicing dance moves next to the golden statue, the Soul Ripper rushed towards them at blinding speed. They had no time to run, and only a couple of them had time to scream, but by the time she had decapitated the first in the group with a mighty elbow chop, she was already moving on to the next one.

Four of the teenagers tried to run despite the Ripper's speed, but the madwoman quickly put an end to three of them with a single, wide-arcing horizontal slash of her left blade that sliced their backs open and fell them in a mess of blood. Stunned by the loss of her friends, the fourth student turned around and ran to their fallen bodies only to receive a high-impact knee that drove her sinuses to her head to kill her instantly.

The remaining five dancers were still standing where they had been when the first of their friends had her head chopped off like a chicken. They were paralyzed with fear, refusing to believe that what they were seeing was real. The Soul Ripper showed them no mercy, and dispatched them all in a certain way.

The first of the quintet of victims received a slit throat that forced her to fall to her knees and bleed to death. The second victim was dispatched with a powerful side kick that sent her crashing into the statue at lethal force. The third victim went down in the wake of a belly cut that caused her to fall flat on her face before letting whatever organs cut loose from the cut spill out. The fourth fell in the wake of having her face driven in the ground followed by a falling elbow drop that drove the blade of the elbow into her back.

The fifth victim, however, took the time that the Soul Ripper took to dispatch what was left of her friends to run away. Chasing after her prey, the madwoman quickly caught up with the girl and put her in a side headlock. When she was Nagalya, it was usually the lead-in to her Bulldog throw, but now it was the prelude to her pulling back and snapping the girl's neck like a twig.

_"I'm the Soul Ripper, the angel of death,_" the madwoman repeated as she turned her attention to the next group of victims. _"I am the brutal enforcer of all divine laws, with a mystic voice in my head."_ Instead of trying to run away, however, the next group encircled the woman and assumed fighting stances of what looked to be loosely based on Mishima-ryu karate. _"I'm the Soul Ripper, the bringer of death. So you better never ever meet me, because then you'll take your final breath!"_

"You just killed my girlfriend, bitch," someone in the group shouted before breaking the circle to charge at the Soul Ripper with his fist raised. "I'm going to break your spine for that!" Tossing a sharply honed punch at the killer of his lover, the student struck the Soul Ripper in the chest. Given the man's toned figure, the impact of the attack would have sent her sprawling backwards had she been an ordinary human.

However, the succubus was far from an ordinary human: her suit absorbed all of the impact of the punch, and the Soul Ripper didn't even budge. Undeterred, the young man pulled his fist away and tried to take her head off with a standing roundhouse kick. The Soul Ripper easily caught the kick and impaled the attacking leg with her opposite elbow blade. Bleeding profusely, the student fell to the ground and roared in agony as his fellow group members took their shot at the killer.

The next attack came from a lithe woman: a blonde teenager who tossed a standing side kick that hit the Soul Ripper in her midsection. Surprised by the sudden attack, the madwoman gently touched her stomach and left herself open to a second kick that caused her to take a few steps back. Leaping into the air, the upstart girl attempted to bring the girl down with a jumping slash kick.

The Soul Ripper snatched the girl out of the air and slammed the teenager's back against her knee. A sharp crack was heard at the girl promptly screamed in agony. Lifting the girl off of her knee by her hair, the Soul Ripper stared at her pained face for a few seconds before slitting her throat and tossing her aside. _"You are doing marvelous, my priestess,"_ Azazel's voice praised the Soul Ripper, who acknowledged the praise with a silent nod. _"Continue forward and show no mercy!"_

The next victim was a deep-tanned man of medium build: if Nagalya could focus herself enough, she might have found him attractive. However, the Soul Ripper was incapable of feeling compassion, and prepared to dispatch of him like she had dispatched his schoolmates. With his arm stretching out to its full length, the youth sent the Soul Ripper stumbling backwards with an Iron Hand.

While the children may have known some of Heihachi's moves, they did not have even an ounce of his strength. The Soul Ripper made the youth pay for his arrogance in thinking that using that move would have the same effect on her as it did when Heihachi used it by lifting her leg and driving him into the ground with it.

Stepping on the back of the youth's neck, the Soul Ripper ground the heel of her high-heeled boot into it and elicited screams of unbearable pain. The deep-tanned man cursed and yelled, damning the madwoman to hell. However, it was hard to do that, since being possessed by Soul Edge meant she was already in hell. After a few seconds of listening to him scream, the Soul Ripper mercifully broke his neck and kicked him aside.

The next two victims looked had features that were identical from one another: if not for the pink bow tying back one of the twins' hair, the Soul Ripper would have guessed that they were clones of one another. Instead of attacking the madwoman head-on, the twin teenage girls sidestepped around the Soul Ripper's punch so that one was on her right and the other was on her left.

"Let's do this!"

The two girls shouted out their challenge simultaneously as they stepped forward to sandwich the Soul Ripper's head between their feet using high-striking kicks. Even though the girls were far from slow, the Soul Ripper was faster and she ducked under their kicks by performing a vertical leg split. Undeterred by this, the two girls lifted their attacking legs once again and tried to smash the succubus' head in with twin axe kicks.

However, the Soul Ripper caught the two legs and used her Olympian flexibility to slowly rise back onto her feet while still holding the two girls in place. Not ones to just let themselves remain vulnerable, the two girls spun around and simultaneously struck the murderer's head with twin enziguri kicks. The twin attacks, however impressive they were, were not enough to make the Soul Ripper let them go.

Pulling the first girl towards her by tugging on her foot, the Soul Ripper let go of her leg only to slice off her head with a swift hand chop. "U-Umeko," the other twin cried out to her decapitated sister. She would not be sisterless for long, however, as the Soul Ripper impaled her chest with a fingers-first hand thrust. The speed of the attack was so great, that the hand entered the girl's body through one end and exited out the other.

_"Blood,"_ the voice claiming to be Soul Edge screamed in ecstasy within the dark recesses of the Soul Ripper's mind. _"Delicious, addicting, nectar-like blood! Succubus, do not stop until you have satiated my thirst for blood!"_

"Umeko! Natsuki!"

Turning her head to see her next set of victims, a sextet of young men, the Soul Ripper pushed the impaled "Natsuki" off of her arm and let her fall to the ground to have her blood pool beneath her. These men were a bit different from the previous victims: they had a more defined ki signature and the Soul Ripper knew that probably meant their souls would provide a better harvest.

With any one-on-one battle proving fruitless thus far, half of the six men came at the Ripper at a full run while the other three waited as backup. Combining their strength, the three charging men took to the air and successfully toppled the mad succubus with simultaneously executed flying slash kicks. Rolling back onto her feet, the Soul Ripper was sent right back down again in the wake of the three men tackling her to the ground.

"Hold her still," one of the youths commanded. The other two young men grabbed onto the Soul Ripper's arms and pinned her to the ground while the leader mounted her and grabbed onto her neck. Lifting his fist high into the air, the leader prepared to shatter the Soul Ripper's helmet to see who was underneath. "This is for the twins, bitch!"

However, when the fist came down on the Soul Ripper's helmet, it was not the black shielding that shattered. With a loud crack, the bones in the man's hand shattered upon impact and elicited a loud moan of agony. "What the hell is that thing made out of," he shouted out as the two men pinning the Soul Ripper to the ground let go of the woman and ran to their leader. "I'm the best brick buster in the class, and I didn't even make a dent!"

Standing back up and cracking her neck, the Soul Ripper walked over to the three gentlemen and returned the favor done to earlier by lifting the two men that pinned her off the ground by their necks and slamming them into the ground. The impact of the choke slam drew blood from the back of their skulls and knocked the both of them unconscious. They would perish in their knockout slumber thanks to the Soul Ripper driving down and driving a bladed elbow in each of their chests.

Removing her blades from her victims and flipping back onto her feet, the Soul Ripper watched as the three men who had been standing back ran at her with the same ferocity as the previous trio. However, the mad succubus was not about to let herself get tackled again, especially by those whose only destiny was to become fuel for her master's revival.

Rearing back and charging her ki, the Soul Ripper took flight and kicked the center man with a flying dragon kick. Due to the extreme impact of the attack, the man's chest imploded from the kick and he was dead before he even hit the ground. Shocked by their comrade's death, the other two men stood still as the succubus trapped in the throes of a murdering frenzy removed her foot from the man's chest and turned around at her next victims.

Dashing forward with violent intent, the Soul Ripper lowered her arms and prepared to slash away at the two men with her elbow blades. In a last ditch effort, the two men joined hands and used their combined fist to strike the oncoming succubus in the neck. The attack stalled her long enough for the two of them to lift her off the ground and prepared to drive her back in the ground with a simultaneous power bomb.

Somehow, the two men were successful in their attack and the Soul Ripper landed with a loud thud. "Now's our chance," one of the men shouted as he put the sole of his shoe around the mad succubus's neck. "Let's waste her!" Using that foot to hold her still, the first man waited for his schoolmate to stomp on his foot and bring crushing pressure down on the succubus' neck.

After seven stomps and no response, the two men removed their respective feet away and looked to see if they had indeed stopped the madness by crushing the Soul Ripper's windpipe. "I think we did it," the second man said before turning to his leader who was still kneeling down with a broken. "I think we finally did it!"

The Soul Ripper proved that was too early to celebrate as she sat back up and cut the two men's legs off with twin scissor-like slash. The two men fell on their backs screaming as they realized that they would never walk again. The Soul Ripper was not entirely without mercy, though: she spared them such a fate but crushing both of their windpipes with high stomps.

"You…you killed all my friends," the man with the broken hand said as the Soul Ripper walked to where he was on his knees gripping his hands. "Why don't you come and finish me off now?"

Before she could comply with her victim's request, the Soul Ripper turned around to see a large group of children fleeing the area. It would seem that while she was distracted, some of the other victims escaped to evacuate anyone else in the area. _"You must not let them escape,"_ Azazel's voice said to his puppet and she charged her ki. _"If they leave, then there will not be enough souls for my resurrection!"_

The Soul Ripper would not let such a thing happen. Using all of her energy, the Soul Ripper fired off a massive streak of lightning at the group running away by firing it into the air and letting it fall down on them like a bomb. A pillar of flame and death erupted from where the lightning struck and sent the victims flying in several directions. Voicing the name of her technique, the Soul Ripper felt the ki signatures off everyone who tried to flee die down. "Critical Finish: Ripper Thunder!"

_"I'm the Soul Ripper, the angel of death,_" the mad succubus once again beat the psychic message into the skull of the man gripping his hand as she turned around. _"I am the brutal enforcer of all divine laws, with a mystic voice in my head."_ Lifting her arm in preparting for a decapitating slice from her dripping elbow blades, she completed her poem. _"I'm the Soul Ripper, the bringer of death. So you better never ever meet me, because then you'll take your final breath!"_

However, the Soul Ripper suddenly stopped what she as doing and let out a loud shriek before falling to her knees and gripping her head. Seeing his last chance at life, the young man stood up and retreated as fast as he could, hoping that at least he would survive to tell the brutal tale that had unfolded in the past few minutes.

"…what a rush," Nagalya said as she let out a sigh. "For a moment I completely lost my mind, like someone else was driving my body and I was asleep." Looking at her hands, the succubus let out a gasp as she noticed that she was stained in blood. Looking at the rest of her body, however, she decided the more appropriate term was "drenched." "What the hell happened!?"

Lifting her head and looking around, Nagalya's eyes widened from beneath the shade of her helmet as she bore witness to the end result of the frenzy that she entered prior to entering the school ground. "I did this," she whispered as she stood back up. "I don't feel so good: it's like my heart is being weighed down by an iron ball. Is this what humans call guilt?"

"Nagalya!"

Turning around to see the sight of her three rivals Jun Kazama, Kazuya Mishima, and Lee Chaolan running towards her, the armored succubus tried her hardest to regain her focus. "Hello, friends," she said in a breaking voice, even though she could not fathom why she was feeling so down. "You missed…the show, it seems."

"What the hell happened to you," Lee said with his voice full of shock and horror. "Did you really do all of this!? What happened to the Nagalya that saved my life!"

"Well, it would seem that I am having a serious identity crisis," Nagalya replied as she looked at the blood on her hands that was already soaking into the suit like a sponge. "If you could resolve it for me, then I would be quite grateful."

"I'm sensing so many different ki signatures in your body," Jun said to the succubus as she continued to stare at her hands that were becoming cleaner and cleaner by the second, even though her conscience was another story. "This must be the anti-thesis to the shards that Yoshimitsu told us about."

"Is that what happened to me?" Nagalya said with a hint of surprise. "I guess that's kind of cool, barring the fact that I completely lose control when I'm like this. In fact, I can still hear the voice of this suit calling out for more blood."

"Well, don't worry about a thing, beautiful," Lee assured the object of his desire as he assumed his fighting stance. "We'll knock some sense back into you and then we can put this whole mess behind us. Isn't that right, Kazu-YUH!"

Lee's speech was cut short in the wake of Kazuya's fist being plunged into his solar plexus, effectively knocking the wind out of him and incapacitating him. "Kazuya, what are you doing?" Jun ran over to her companion as he pulled back his fist and let Lee fall to the ground. "We should try to-"

The former detective would be unable to finish that sentence, as Kazuya turned around and struck her in the back of the neck with a swift chop. "Kazu…ya," was all Jun could say as she fell onto her knees before the rest of her body followed suit and collapsed onto the ground unconscious.

"This is not a battle for idealists like you two," Kazuya before turning to Nagalya. "Your goals of things like rehabilitation might be good for human beings, but against monsters they are useless." Slowly assuming his fighting stance and channeling his ki into the morpher on his wrist, the Cold-Blooded Prince activated it with his keyword and transformed into the purple-clad Disciple of Despair, ShinkenSlayer. "There is only one solution for a demon like you, and that is to take you out…permanently!"


	21. Mask

The smell of blood and death was thick in the air as Kazuya took a deep whiff and slowly exhaled the copper scent. Even within the confines of his helmet, the odor of destruction did not escape him. After all, it was not too long ago that he created such a unique smell of carnage in his own bid to take over the city that he was now trying to defend. The key difference, however, was that while Kazuya simply wished to claim the city, the foe he was facing was trying to destroy it.

"You know, defeating me would probably be a lot easier if you had your friends alongside you," the armored woman known as Nagalya said to Kazuya as she stretched her arms before assuming her fighting stance. "After all, I'm in such an unstable mood right now that you have no idea what I'm going to do next!"

In the time it took for Kazuya and his now-unconscious associates Jun and Lee to arrive at Mishima High School, their sworn enemy Nagalya turned the schoolyard into a small pocket of hell as the schizophrenic Soul Ripper. Upon seeing the chaos, it became clear to Kazuya that any hopes that either his brother or his companion had of "rehabilitating" the dragon succubus was pointless, and he took steps to make sure that they would not interfere in his doing the most obvious thing.

"I do not need either of them to defeat you," Kazuya replied bluntly. "When it comes to being a merciless killer, I have few equals. You see, all of the past times I have clashed with you, it was not because I wanted to kill you. This is because you had valuable information that I did not know about."

"I am assuming that has changed," the dragon succubus slowly began sidestepping around Kazuya, sizing up her foe like a lion circling its prey. "My guess is that you know all about my master Azazel, and my plans to revive him and bring this world to ruin."

"Indeed," the Cold-Blooded Prince nodded his head as his gaze continued to follow Nagalya. "Now that we know of your intentions and your goals, your continued survival is no longer necessary. In fact, I think letting you live would be downright suicidal." Charging his ki before charging towards his adversary, Kazuya raised his fists and made his intentions known. "I shall rip out your unnatural heart and hang it in my office as a trophy!"

Tossing a sharply honed punch at Nagalya, Kazuya's eyes widened at the sight of his fist being caught by Nagalya's hand. Before he could pull his fist back to break loose, the gray-haired Mishima was sent flying backwards in the wake of the succubus' diagonal slash from her elbow blade that drew a shower of sparks. "As charming as that sounds, I don't think I'm going to let you kill me," she said as she ran after Kazuya as soon as he was back on his feet. "That right is reserved for someone else!"

Quickly resuming his fighting stance, Kazuya moved his head to the side to avoid Nagalya's straight punch and countered with one of his own: a mid-section strike that caused the mad succubus to crumple like an accordion. Stunned from the attack, Nagalya was left open to a second straight punch that sent her sprawling backwards: a one-two combination that Kazuya called "the Glorious Demon Fists."

Landing on her feet, Nagalya quickly resumed her fighting stance and taunted Kazuya to come back to her with a wave of her hand. "What is this? Do you want to die early?" Kazuya said with a chuckle before charging the woman. Taking to the air, the Cold-Blooded Prince tried to knock the woman down with a flying slash kick. Throwing her arms, up, Nagalya blocked the kick with her hands and countered with a pirouette kick that sent Kazuya spiraling away.

"I see you've improved your craft since the last time we met you," Kazuya said as he stopped the spinning by planting a hand on the ground and using it to put a halt to his rotation and flip back onto his feet. "However, this time there will be no morons with silver hair coming to save you. Today, karma comes to back to haunt you."

Lifting his finger and focusing his ki into it, Kazuya fired off a thin beam of energy at Nagalya. Rather than the quick burst of energy that came out the last time he used such a technique in the woman's presence, this beam sent Nagalya flying backwards like she had just been hit with a javelin. "Impressive," he said as he lowered his hand. "That beam was meant to kill you, but that armor protects you."

"You're awfully chatty today," Nagalya flipped back to her feet and ran at Kazuya with inhuman speed. Getting right up in the Cold-Blooded Prince's face, the succubus sent him sliding across the pavement with a one-inch punch. Running after her foe, Nagalya took to the air and landed on Kazuya's chest with a high stomp. "What's the deal with that?"

"Ugh…no reason, I suppose," Kazuya said with a grunt before grabbing onto the sides Nagalya's helmet and rammed it into his. After he did, the succubus was quick to get off of him and allow him to stand back up: a moment weakness Kazuya capitalized on with a quartet of punches and kicks: his Blazing Demon combo. "You have been a worthy adversary despite your physical weaknesses, so I thought this might comfort you as you meet your end."

Normally, the final hit of the Blazing Demon would send someone of Nagalya's build spiraling away. However, the succubus only took a few steps back before reaching out and grabbing onto Kazuya's neck to jump up and ram her knee into his face. The impact of the attack cracked the visor of his helmet and revealed one of his eyes. Stunned, the Cold-Blooded Prince had no choice but to throw his arms up and block Nagalya's follow-up punch.

Quickly realizing that she was on the offensive now, Nagalya ducked under Kazuya's guard and swept him off his feet with a low horizontal kick. Before Kazuya could even land on the ground, Nagalya rose back up and sent him careening with a rising backflip kick. "It's always good to have some intelligent conversation," she said as she stood back up and watched as Kazuya landed flat on his back. "Of course, that would require having a talk with someone actually intelligent!"

"Are you implying that I am anything less than of the highest quality of thinkers, harlot?" Kazuya said with a growl as he quickly stood back up and resumed his fighting stance just as Nagalya was coming at him with her violent intent apparent in the way she ran towards him. "Perhaps I should simply beat you so senseless, you will be unable to speak such nonsense!"

The two combatants simultaneously raised their fists and struck each other's respective helmets at the same time. Both fighters were stunned from the attack and backed away letting out their respective groans of pain. Nagalya would recover faster, and go right back to what she was doing by attacking Kazuya with a powerful knee lift to his ribs.

Realizing that there was no time to grip his attacked ribs, Kazuya rose back up and returned the favor with a rising punch to Nagalya's ribs. Following up with high kick to her head, Kazuya went back to the attacked ribs with a thrusting punch that sent her stumbling backwards. "So far you've been able to withstand all of my attacks," he said with a hint of amusement while he causally walked towards his foe. "Is that the result your training, or your armor?"

"To be quite honest, I would prefer if I didn't fight with this armor," Nagalya managed to sputter out before striking Kazuya with a kick to the chest that sent him flying away. "I've worked hard to make sure that I don't get the punishment I received when the Nightmare Wisp betrayed me! I don't want this armor working as a crutch!" Chasing after him with a raised fist and a yell, Nagalya actually managed to catch Kazuya before he could land and grab onto his airborne body so he could slam it into the ground like a football player spiking a ball in celebration.

"Hmhmhm…is that right?" Kazuya said with a chuckle as he slowly stood back up. "In that case, I am sure that you wouldn't mind if I stopped holding back."

Ducking under Nagalya's high tornado kick, Kazuya rose back up and struck Nagalya in the stomach with a mid-section hook punch. The attack surrounded the succubus's body with crackling electricity that was not her own and paralyzed her in place, allowing Kazuya to send her flying into the air with a Thunder Godfist and pushed farther backwards with a side kick that he threw in on his way back down to the ground.

The Cold-Blooded Prince waited for the woman to get back onto her feet, and made her pay for her tenacity with an overhead elbow strike to the top of her head. He immediately followed that attack with a gut punch that lifted her off her feet, and followed that attack with yet another overhead strike that knocked her back down to the ground.

Next up was a powerful Electric Wind Godfist that launched her high into the air. Pursuing the airborne succubus, Kazuya pressed on the assault with a snapping kick, a quick jab, and an impaling knee that kept her afloat long enough for the Cold-Blooded Prince to send her spiraling away with a standing roundhouse kick.

"For all your boasting and all your killing, against a real foe you are nothing but a lamb," Kazuya with a growl as he built rotational velocity and spun towards the woman as she stumbled back to his feet. "You should be thankful that I am about to put you out of your misery, and out of your shame."

However, Kazuya's confidence soon turned to shock as Nagalya did something that no one had done before: she had actually caught his Lightning Screw Godfist just as he attacked, and used it to pull him towards her so she could send him flying away with a streak of dark purple lightning. "Impossible," he said quietly as he stood back up. "No one has ever been able to stop my ultimate attack!"

"_I'm the Soul Ripper, the angel of death," _he heard Nagalya's voice say in his mind as she altered her fighting stance to a lower and more primal one. _"I am the brutal enforcer of all divine laws, with a mystic voice in my head." _The mad succubus slowly walked towards the surprised Mishima while maintaining her peculiar stance. However, the slow walk quickly turned into a blinding run as she once again ran up right into Kazuya's face. Before sending him sprawling with a diagonal slash, the Soul Ripper completed her poem and let it be known that Nagalya was no longer in control. _"I'm the Soul Ripper, the bringer of death. So you better never ever meet me, because then you'll take your final breath!"_

Kazuya looked at his armor and realized that the blade had somehow left a huge gash in it. "I see you've decided to get serious," he said as he stood back up and assumed his fighting stance to prepared for the coming onslaught. "Come then, harlot: show me what new tricks you-"

Before Kazuya could finish that sentence, however, the Soul Ripper suddenly vanished in front of his eyes. He would not have to look for her for very long, however, as the moment the Cold-Blooded Prince turned his head to see where she could have gone, the Soul Ripper attacked from behind and sent him flying face-first into the ground with an upward slash to his back.

Kazuya let out a shout of pain as he gripped his back while using his other hand to push himself off the ground. As soon as he stood back up, however, the Cold-Blooded Prince was sent right back to the ground with a horizontal hand chop that scraped across his chest and left a trail of sparks in his wake. The mad succubus picked the self-proclaimed "devil made flesh" off the ground by his neck and held him high above her head before smashing him back into the pavement with a fearsome choke slam.

Still gripping Kazuya's neck, the Soul Ripper started moving her feet and ran forwards, taking the Cold-Blooded Prince with her. Sparks flew out of the Mishima's back as he grit his teeth (though Nagalya could not see him do so thanks to the helmet covering his face) and tried to break free of the painful trip he was being taken on. After a few seconds of running, the mad succubus let go of Kazuya and sent him crashing into a few dead bodies like a bowling ball hitting pins.

Quickly getting back up on his feet, Kazuya took deep breaths and tried to regain his focus. However, the Soul Ripper was not willing to give him any respite: she once again used her speed to turn into a blur and warp right in front of the Cold-Blooded Prince to press on her assault with a running tackle that brought them both to the ground.

Now mounted on top of her target, the Soul Ripper lifted her fist and attacked the crack in Kazuya's visor mercilessly with savage punches. With her supernatural strength further enhanced by the Soul Ripper suit, it did not talk long until the entire visor shattered like an eggshell with an explosion of sparks signifying its breaking point. Before she could start punching the softer flesh within, Kazuya parried her fist and pushed her off of him.

"Stupid, worthless thing," Kazuya said with a snarl as he unclipped his helmet and tossed it away. Unfortunately, the time it took to unclip the helmet was all the time it took for the Soul Ripper to recover and start pummeling away at his abdomen with clubbing punches. The punches became stronger and faster with every hit, leaving Kazuya helpless to stop them. Mercifully, the flurry ended with a wicked half-knuckle blow that sent the Cold-Blooded Prince sliding across the pavement.

Charging his ki into his finger as he stood back up, Kazuya fired off a volley of piercing beams at the Soul Ripper. However, the volley barely did anything to slow the crazed woman down, even though explosions of sparks riddled her body with every hit. "This second wind of yours is nothing but a berserker rage," he said to his foe, even though he was positive that he couldn't understand what he was saying. "You should try focusing your rage: it is much more lethal that way."

Lowering his firing hand and focusing his ki into his other, the Cold-Blooded Prince tossed a picture-perfect straight punch right into the helmet of the Soul Ripper. He had hoped that since his helmet was shattered, he would be able to do the same to hers and even the odds. Unfortunately, the helmet was sturdier than his, and all he managed to do was create a small fissure in the visor.

With her eyes shining with madness with such intensity that even Kazuya could see them from beneath the mask of her visor, the Soul Ripper closed in on her prey and pummeled his face with a rapid flurry of punches that not even the inhuman reflexes of the Cold-Blooded Prince could defend against. After the fortieth punch, the Soul Ripper sent Kazuya flying into the air with a wicked side uppercut before rearing back and intercepting his fall back down to the ground with a ki-infused flying dragon kick.

Kazuya crashed into the golden statue of his hated father Heihachi and ricocheted off of it to fall back to the ground with a sickening thud. The rest of his ShinkenSlayer faded in a burst of dark purple energy and he let out a loud groan as it did so. "Impressive," he managed to say as he stumbled back onto his feet. "I did not expect this much power."

Rather than immediately charge Kazuya, however, the Soul Ripper reached down and picked up the corpse of one of the victims she had impaled earlier. With her elbow blades glowing an eerie orange, the mad succubus slowly applied one of them to the corpse's neck and drew forth massive splashes of blood as she gradually sliced its head off. After a few seconds, the head was completely severed as she tossed it in Kazuya's direction.

An instant after she did that, the Soul Ripper warped in front of Kazuya and grabbed him by the neck. "I…see," Kazuya said between grit teeth. "You intend for that to be my end." With both his hands wrapping around the Soul Ripper's neck, Kazuya charged his electric blue ki and tried to electrocute the woman who made her intentions to decapitate him known. "Go on and try, if you have the guts!"

Slowly but surely, the blade inched closer and closer to his neck despite the raw amounts of power being funneled into her body. The normally collected Kazuya Mishima began to sweat the blade moved towards him with the speed of the turtle. "I refuse to die like this," he said out loud as he tightened his grip on her neck. "I am the devil made flesh, and the one true heir of the Mishima Zaibatsu. My will is indomitable, and my fists are untamable!"

Just when the blade was about to touch Kazuya's neck, the Soul Ripper felt a pair of arms wrap around her and pull her away from her prey. Forcefully thrown aside, the mad succubus looked at her attackers only to be sent flying away several yards with simultaneously thrust kicks to the chest. "It took you two long enough," Kazuya said between gasps for air.

"You shouldn't have punched me so hard," Lee spat back as he ran up next to his brother. "I was really out of it for a few seconds."

"Kazuya, your plan was brilliantly executed," Jun commended her companion as she ran up to Kazuya's opposite side and stood next to him as the three of them simultaneously resumed their fighting stances. "By feigning unconsciousness, we were able to monitor your fight with Nagalya and see what her current conditions. I am only sorry that you had to endure so much punishment gauging her strength."

"At least I am not dead," he said with a shrug before recharging his morpher with ki. "She is clearly possessed by someone, and she has become much more lethal because of it. I believe that if we manage to damage that suit of hers enough, then we should be able to break her down and force her to submit."

"Poor soul," Jun said as she charged her own morpher, which flashed with golden energy. "No matter what she has done, no one deserves to be turned into a merciless killing machine against their will." With her body enveloped in bright light, Jun took a deep breath. When she exhaled, the protective armor of ShinkenGold was now hugging her lithe form.

"She is only like this because she is loyal to her master," Lee defended the object of his desire's sociopathic ways as the shards around his neck shone like stars. After a second of this, the shards liquefied and spread across the silver-haired warrior's body like a infection. However, this infection did not harm Lee: rather, it empowered him and encased him in the shimmering blue-and-silver armor of the Soul Breaker. "We'll put her back on the straight and narrow by teaching her the error of her ways in the only fashion fighters like us can do…with our fists!"

"Finally, you are speaking like a man," Kazuya, in a rare very moment, complimented his brother before muttering the keyword that would activate his morpher and letting his body become engulfed in dark purple energy once again. With his ShinkenSlayer suit fully reformed and protecting his beaten body once again, Kazuya's left eye glowed red and blue and shone through his helmet while the Soul Ripper charged at them. "Come: let us show this foolish girl what true fighters can do!"

Leaping impossibly high into the air, the Soul Ripper plummeted down towards the trio with her arms in front of her. "Scatter," Kazuya commanded as their opponent came closer down to them. Thanks to the Cold-Blooded Prince timely order, the Soul Ripper was unable to pounce on anyone and landed on the ground with a roll. As soon as she stood back up, however, she turned her attention to an individual opponent.

Utilizing her blazing speed, the Soul Ripper dashed towards Jun with her blade raised in preparation for a running decapitation. However, as fast as the Ripper was, Jun's reflexes were even faster. The former detective effortlessly ducked under the running slice and used the mad succubus' aggression against her by tripping the woman with a leg sweep and causing her to fall flat on her face.

Reaching down to pick up her adversary, Jun lifted the Soul Ripper above her head only to slam her head-first into the ground before tossing her high into the air: a technique that she adequately dubbed "Falling Rain." Unable to right herself in mid-air, the Soul Ripper crashed into the pavement face-first with a sickening thud."

"_I'm the Soul Ripper, the angel of death," _she repeated with her telepathy before charging at Jun once again. _"I am the brutal enforcer of all divine laws with a mystic voice in my head." _As soon as she was within striking distance, the Soul Ripper attacked Jun with a wild flurry of swipes that came from any direction that her arms would all her to attack. _"I'm the Soul Ripper, the bringer of death. So you better never ever meet me, because then you'll take your final-"_

Both the Soul Ripper's flurry and poem were interrupted by Jun actually catching both of her arms and using them to tie her into a straight-jacket position, and then lift her off her feet so Jun could bend over backwards and slam the mad succubus head-first into the ground with a cross-arm suplex. Standing back up before the Soul Ripper could recover, Jun jumped high into the air and prepared to drop both knees onto the self-proclaimed "angel of death."

The Soul Ripper, however, recovered faster than Jun hoped and rolled away just in time. Letting out a shout of pain as both knees crashed into the pavement with no sort of cushioning aside from her suit, Jun was slow to get back up and face the mad succubus. This delay was all the time she needed to run up to Jun and sent her sliding across the ground with a half-knuckle blow.

Before she could pursue the former detective, the Soul Ripper's attention was turned to Lee as he let out a piercing shout and ran towards her at a full run. The charge was so sudden and so out-of-the-blue that all the mad succubus could do was stand in place and get sent sprawling to the ground as the silver-haired warrior collided into her with a shoulder tackle.

"Hey, wait a second," Lee muttered to himself as the Soul Ripper flipped back onto her feet and prepared for her next attack. "There's a pretty big crack in her helmet. Maybe I can exploit it." Using his quick reflexes, Jun spun around the mad succubus' hand thrust and put her in a headlock from behind. Once he did that, he jumped high into the air and landed on his buttocks to drive his adversary's face into the pavement with a textbook Bulldog.

Running backwards to put some distance between the him and his beloved, Lee let out a quick laugh as he noticed the Soul Ripper stumble back onto her feet, with the fissure in her helmet bigger than it was before the Bulldog. "Hey guys," he shouted out as he parried the Soul Ripper's roundhouse kick and countered with one of his own. "Aim for the crack in her helmet! That's her weak point!"

The Soul Ripper stumbled backwards in the wake of the powerful kick she received, but soon looked back up and prepared to return the attack in kind. However, Lee was already in her face and he blasted the crack in her visor with a 360-degree hook punch that pushed her back a few steps. Jumping a few feet into the air, the silver-haired playboy continued the assault with a high-impact jumping side kick that sent her screeching across the pavement, right in Kazuya's direction.

"Hello again, harlot," he said with a hint of amusement before picking the mad succubus off the ground and striking her visor with a devastating left hook, immediately followed by a right that dazed her momentarily. Not willing to give his target any respite, Kazuya continued attacking the head with a left-right punching combination immediately followed with a spinning backfist. Kazuya was not yet satisfied, however, and he attacked with a new combination: a pair of left-handed jabs, and a right cross that sent her to the ground.

The Soul Ripper moaned as she struggled to get back up, dazed from the continued attacks on her head. However, she still had enough focus to noticed that a large source of ki was rapidly approaching her from behind. Slowly turning around to see what was the matter, the mad succubus witnessed Jun spinning towards her at cyclonic speeds while crackling with golden energy. Unable to defend herself against the former detective, the crack in her visor was further worsened by the Spinning Heel Drop that sent her spiraling to the ground.

"I'm…the Soul Ripper," the mad succubus said out loud as she slowly stood back up and assumed a groggy fighting stance. "I am the angel of death…" Before she could begin her poem, however, Kazuya dashed towards her and sent her flying away with a Lightning Godfist. The crack in her helmet became bigger and bigger, and it was only seconds away from shattering completely to reveal the beautiful face underneath.

"You are not this Soul Ripper that killed these kids," Lee said as he reared back and focused his silver ki into the left leg while the mad succubus slowly stood back up and stumbled towards him. "You are Nagalya, the woman I love and have grown to respect these past few weeks. I think it's time that you realized that once again!"

With one, final Silver Cyclone kick, the black visor covered her face shattered completely, and the Soul Ripper responded to this by screaming at the top of her lungs and gripping her head in agony and pain. "No…no," she screeched as her entire body crackled with dark purple electricity. "I don't want this! I don't want this!"

After one final scream, the armor of Soul Ripper vanished in a burst of fire and lightning that caused her three rivals to shield their eyes accordingly. When the light faded, Nagalya was back to her old self, revealing outfit and all. "Finally," she said with a sigh as she shook her head. "I was beginning to think I was going to be like that forever."

"You lose, Nagalya," Jun told the succubus as she walked towards her. "Accept defeat like the warrior you claim to be, and we will be lenient in deciding what to do with you. What matters now is that Azazel cannot be resurrected."

"…are you serious?" Nagalya said with a grim smile. "My master…has already been released." Seeing the body language of her three masked rivals that indicated their shock, the succubus continued. "Those children that I, or rather, the suit killed were the last souls needed for my master to come back."

As soon as she finished that sentence, a lightning bolt lit up the night sky, and the sound of thunder boomed throughout the area. "My master…my master is coming here," she exclaimed with a laughter that expressed her joy. "I've finally done it! Welcome, my master! Your priestess welcomes you!"

Nagalya's bright laughter was quickly cut short, however, but Kazuya's hand piercing her stomach and exiting through her back. Removing the hand as quickly as it had entered Nagalya's body, the Cold-Blooded Prince glared at the woman menacingly with his mutated eye shining from beneath her helmet before she fell backwards and took shallow breaths. "You annoy me, woman. Roll over and die."

"Kazuya," Lee exclaimed as he ran over to Nagalya and knelt down besides her. "What have you done!? You said we were just going to subdue her!"

"I did what I should have done the moment I laid eyes on her," Kazuya spat back as his brother tended to her beloved. "However, I think it makes little difference. After all, there is a high likelihood that we are all about to die anyway!"


	22. Brother

"You told me with a straight face that we weren't going to kill her, Kazuya," Lee said with a growl as he got off the ground and walked towards his brother as the gray-haired Mishima stared into the increasingly cloudy night sky. "But you do it anyway! You are completely without class, Kazuya!"

"I am in a class of my own, Chaolan," he replied coldly without breaking his gaze. "I am a sinner, and that is what I always will be. I do what needs to be done when those who still cling to their morals and conscience can't bring themselves to do the same thing."

After a brutal clash with the dragon succubus Nagalya and her alter ego the Soul Ripper, Kazuya, Lee, and Jun had thought that the nightmare was over. All of their battles with the Wisps would be coming to a close now that their leader had been taken down. Unfortunately, they learned that it was already too late: Nagalya had already reaped enough souls to release her master Azazel from his prison, and now he was heading to Tokyo to annihilate the city, and ultimately the world.

In an act of malice and rage, Kazuya plunged his hand through Nagalya's abdomen and pierced her like a knife. As the succubus fell to the ground dying, all he could think about was the trouble that was just on the horizon. Azazel, a monstrous foe that he had never faced before, had been released and was coming to bring the world to ruin.

Lee, on the other hand, did not care about Azazel at the moment. What mattered to him was that the woman he fell in love with was now on the ground breathing her final breaths, and his brother was the reason behind it. _There has always been animosity between them, _Jun thought as Lee stopped directly behind Kazuya and clenched his fists. _However, it looks like the tension is about to reach its peak._

"Don't feed me that pile of rubbish, Kazuya," Lee shouted out with such ferocity that even Kazuya turned his head to take notice. "The only reason you wanted to kill her was because she got on your nerves. That's how you deal with people that don't agree with you: you get rid of them!"

"Let's assume that I did show mercy," the elder brother said with a sneer as he turned the rest of his body around and faced Lee while their respective suits dissipated in a flash of light to reveal their civilian attire. "Let's assume that you were able to show Nagalya the error of her ways, and we prevented Azazel from awakening. What would you do then?"

"I would have loved her with every fiber of my being," Lee answered before taking a deep breath to try and keep himself from crying. "I would have shown her that there is so much more to this world than just serving the whims of someone else…"

"You are a terrible liar," Kazuya commented on Lee's answer with a scoff, causing his brother's eyes to widen in rage. "You would have had your fun with her for a few weeks, and then you would have sent her on her way so you could explore a new woman. Then, with her twisted heart broken, she would have gone right back to killing people."

"You're wrong, Kazuya," Lee shouted at his brother with his voice filled with raw hatred. "I was willing to abandon that lifestyle just so I could have her next to me and keep her from going back to the same lifestyle that dragged all of us into this mess!" With a wild punch, Lee decked Kazuya squarely in the jaw. "You always ruin my life, Kazuya! Everywhere I turn, I see something that drags me towards you, holding me down and keeping me from finding happiness!"

"Stop it, you two," Jun interjected as she put herself between the two brothers. "We have bigger things to worry about, like what we are going to do about Azazel. He will be coming here very soon with the intention to destroy everything and everyone in this city!"

"Stay out of this, Jun," Kazuya said quietly as he put his hand on Jun's shoulder and pushed her aside. "It is obvious Chaolan wants to make an issue out of this, and I have my own frustrations to take out on him." Tightening his red gloves while Lee loosened the buttons of his shirt, the Cold-Blooded Prince continued. "If he wants to challenge me, then I will not stop him."

"I'll try to avoid giving him too much brain damage," Lee said coldly as Jun slowly walked backwards to give the two brothers room. "I just have a lot of things to get off of my chest, and it's been a long time since the two of us had a real brotherly chat. This is going to be very therapeutic."

The two combatants assumed their respective fighting stance and glared at each other menacingly. Kazuya had exhausted most of his energy fighting Nagalya, so Lee had the advantage of being the fresher man due to his limited participation in that bout. However, Lee was a mere mortal, and Kazuya still had several supernatural abilities in his favor. _Either way, they are going to hurt each other, _Jun watched the two brothers slowly advance towards each other, primed to strike as soon as they were within reach. _However, I understand that this is how they deal with things as warriors: I just have to make sure it doesn't get out of hand._

"When you first came into my house, I thought 'who was this weak-looking slug?'" Kazuya said with a smirk before suddenly dashing towards Lee with great strides and send him sprawling backwards with a mid-section Soul Thrust. Watching the silver-haired martial artist hit the ground with a thud, he continued his story. "Then I learned that you were my new brother, and I split the hatred I had for Heihachi and focused some of it on you."

"When I first met you, I thought about how cool it was to have a brother," Lee flipped back onto his feet and waited for Kazuya to come close enough to him. Once he felt his brother was within striking distance, Lee's leg sprung into action and he returned the favor done to him earlier by knocking the Cold-Blooded Prince away with a Pulse Blast kick. "However, when I introduced yourself, you spat in my face. I knew from that point on that we were not going to get along."

"How could we get along?" Kazuya quickly returned to his feet and reached out to grab the oncoming Lee's neck. Rearing back as he focused himself, the gray-haired Mishima rammed his forehead in his brother's head and sent him crashing into the ground with a Stonehead attack. "The only reason Heihachi adopted you was so that you could challenge me for the Zaibatsu one day."

"Heihachi adopted me because he recognized my abilities," Lee said with a smirk as he stood back up and suddenly lashed out at Kazuya, grabbing the back of his neck. Pulling Kazuya towards him, Lee jumped up and rammed his knee into Kazuya's face to knock him a few feet into the air before he crashed down with a thud. "He saw my brilliance, and my strength. That's more than what he could say about you, the one that he tossed off a cliff because he didn't think you were tough enough the way you were."

With the preliminary tongue-lashings out of the way, Kazuya rolled back onto his feet and resumed his fighting stance while Lee waited for him patiently. The two men glared at each other for a couple of seconds, and then ran at each other with their fists raised and their mouths open to let loose their respective battle cries.

"Even if that were true, he probably didn't expect you to be a such a crybaby," Kazuya growled as he blocked Lee's punch and countered with a high kick to his temple. With his brother stunned from the attack, Kazuya continued his assault with a jab, another high kick, and a stomach punch that caused his brother to crumple to the ground: his Blazing Demon combination. "When you first started practicing martial arts with the family, you cried every single time Heihachi slammed you into the ground. Not once did I ever cry when he did that."

"No, you did not," Lee said through grit teeth as he rolled away from Kazuya's attempted stomp and returned to his feet while rubbing his stomach. With a quick snapping kick to the face, Lee halted Kazuya's advances and opened up an opportunity for him to strike Kazuya in the chest with a backhanded fist before sending him crashing to the ground with a ki-infused straight punch. "Instead, you stewed about it and kept whining to me about how you'd pay him back as soon as you were big enough."

"I remember the first time the two of us competed in a tournament with both of us representing the Mishima clan: I believe you were seven at the time," the Cold-Blooded Prince landed on his feet and charged at Lee with violent intent burning in his eyes. Just before he came within Lee's striking distance, Kazuya took to the air and sent Lee flying backwards with a flying slash kick. "Do you know what story I am talking about?"

"I have a pretty good feeling I do," Lee sprang back onto his feet and entered his Hitman stance, taunting Kazuya by using his finger to motion towards him and dare him to attack again. Predictably, the Cold-Blooded Prince approached him so he could make him pay for insolence, but he was the one that paid with a high-impact jumping thrust kick. "I wound up winning that tournament because I managed to knock you out of the ring!"

"What you seem to fail to remember is that when you heard that I was to be your opponent, you tried to throw the match to me," Kazuya said with an evil grin as he stood back up and resumed his fighting stance. Blocking Lee's mid-section kick, the Cold-Blooded Prince countered with a pair of left-handed jabs and a thrusting right-handed punch that sent Lee sliding across the pavement. "Heihachi wouldn't have any of it, though: we all would have been shamed if he had let you embrace your cowardice."

"I didn't want to fight my brother," Lee explained his actions from so long ago as he flipped back onto his feet and weaved past Kazuya's next punch to counter with a few of his own: a pair of cross punches immediately followed by a 360-degree hook punch that dazed Kazuya momentarily. "As much as I disliked you back then, I still wanted to act like family."

"A likely excuse for a crybaby," Kazuya said as he rose back up to strike Lee in the stomach with such force that he actually succeeded in lifting him off the ground. Before the silver-haired martial artist's feet could even touch the pavement, Kazuya punched him off his fist with a punch from his other hand. "You were probably afraid that I would damage your face that you valued so much even back then. You were scared of getting a boo-boo, so to speak."

_Despite the rage I am sensing between the two of them, watching them fight is almost like watching children argue, _Jun watched the two brothers continue to exchange insults and stories while at the same time inflict bodily harm on one another. _It is like they are avoiding trying to incapacitate one another so that they can hear the other's comeback. Those two share such a strange relationship._

"Let's fast-forward a couple of years, when Heihachi took us to Mt. Fuji to train," Lee allowed himself a smile as he ducked under Kazuya's high roundhouse to strike him in the stomach with a low backhanded punch. "When we were hiking, you tripped and almost fell off of the mountain, did you remember who reached down to save you from going splat?"

"UGH! I didn't need your charity," Kazuya said as he slowly pushed himself off the ground after being floored by Lee's high-striking roundhouse kick. Kicking Lee off of his feet with a low sweep as he stood back up, the gray-haired karateka lifted his foot and planted it right onto Lee's spine. "I would have survived the fall just fine: I doubt the same could be said for you."

"I wouldn't have been so clumsy," Lee spat back as he rolled away the instant Kazuya lifted his foot so he could stomp on his back. Getting back up with a high-rising somersault kick, Lee sent Kazuya flying backwards to crash onto his back while he landed gracefully on his feet. "I took the necessary precautions for surviving in the mountains and Heihachi praised me for it."

"I remember our first day in middle school, when the gang of wannabe Vale Tudo fighters challenged us," Kazuya rubbed his jaw to make sure nothing was broken and then ran towards Lee with his fist raised. "The two of us accepted their challenge together, but you were the one who got struck from behind. Your senses were so dull that I had to make sure that you didn't completely disgrace the Mishima name."

"I could have taken those brutes on," Lee spat back as he jumped over Kazuya's punch with a stylish spin and put him in a side headlock before leaping forward and landing on his buttocks while he drove Kazuya's face into the pavement with a Bulldog. "You're talking about me being charitable, but it was you who was being too generous."

"When you were sent away to the United States for what Heihachi called 'studying abroad,' I smiled to myself knowing that you would finally be out of my hair," Kazuya pushed himself off the ground and stood back up to snatch Lee's entire body off the ground and throw him into the ground with a devastating Steel Pedal Drop. "It was clear that both of us were sick of you, so you were sent to get out of our sight."

"You're just jealous that I was chosen to tend to the Zaibatsu overseas while you were still under your daddy's thumb," Lee returned to his feet with a forward roll and dusted himself off while he took a moment to catch his breath. "You may have been the biological son, but Heihachi clearly didn't have enough faith in you to handle things on your own."

"That was his mistake," Kazuya took advantage of Lee's lack of action by dashing towards him with long strides and launching him into the air with an Electric Wind Godfist. "By keeping me so close to him, I was able to discover his weaknesses and then take the Zaibatsu from him by winning the inaugural King of Iron Fist Tournament." Keeping Lee afloat with a snapping kick, a quick jab, and an impaling knee, Kazuya sent his brother spiraling away with a standing roundhouse kick. "When I faced you in that same tournament, however, you stepped aside and asked if I could let you be my secretary. Even as an adult, you still cowered in my presence."

"It wasn't time yet to prove that I was the better brother," Lee spat back before groaning and pain and rubbing where he had landed. "When Master Wang offered my the chance to even up the score by wresting the Zaibatsu away from you, I leapt for it, because it meant that I would finally be out of your shadow. If not for that bastard Heihachi, I probably would have succeeded!"

Launching Kazuya into the air with a jumping knee, Lee continued his monologue as he pressed on the assault with a pair of spinning kicks and a backflip kick that propelled Kazuya further upwards. "Then I ran into you in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4: again you stood in my way of taking what should have been mine anyway!" Launching Kazuya far away with a particularly impactful Pulse Blast kick, the silver-haired martial artist quieted his voice. "Then came the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6, when you beat me yet again."

"You sound depressed, Chaolan," Kazuya said with a smirk while he slowly stumbled back to his feet and took deep breaths. "Did you really think that you were going to defeat me when I was so focused, and so ready to take out Heihachi once and for all?"

"Yeah, and that worked out real well," Lee replied with his voice full of sarcasm as he charged his ki, channeling visible silver-colored energy all throughout his body. Seeing Kazuya do the same with his electric blue ki, Lee tossed aside his doubts and charged at hit brother. "You got your butt handed to you, and Heihachi barely even broke a sweat doing it. It was as if you were a kid again!"

"It might have seemed like time reserved itself, but one thing always remained constant," Kazuya responded to Lee's full run by answering with one of his own, his fist reared back in preparation for a devastating blow. "That constant was my dominance over you!"

With precise timing, both fighters let their fists fly and simultaneously decked each other in the jaw. The sound of bone hitting flesh could be heard even from where Jun was standing, and it caused her to put her hand to her mouth. _What an impact, _she thought as she ran over to the two brothers while they slowly collapsed onto their knees. _I think it's time that I stepped in!_

The two brothers were silent for several seconds, breathing heavily as they tried to regain their composure. "Do…you know why I accepted your offer to work together once again as business partners?" Kazuya said with a whisper that was just loud enough for Lee to hear. "It was because that despite your innumerable flaws, you still had fighting spirit noteworthy enough for me to use."

"Do you…know why I asked to begin with?" Lee responded to Kazuya's question with one of his own. "It was because when I heard of Heihachi's plan to unify the Mishima clan, I was…oddly happy. I thought that it would bring things back to the way we they were before, when we were two brothers trying to get a one-up on the other, instead of two bitter enemies trying to brutally eliminate the competition…"

Lifting his head to look up at Lee, Kazuya smirked when he saw that his brother was bleeding from the mouth. "I damaged your pretty face," he bragged as Lee lifted his hand to wipe the blood from his lip. "Isn't this the part where you cry and whine about how your face has been damaged?"

Slowly turning his head to where Nagalya was lying, Lee lifted his other hand to wipe away a stray tear that came from his eye. "Right now I have something else to cry about, thanks to you." With a sniff and a deep breath, the silver-haired playboy used the same hand he used to wipe his tear to brush back his hair. "I'll have to avenge her death later, though."

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, the two brothers turned their heads and looked up to see Jun looking down at them with her arms folded. "Are you boys quite done?" she asked with a smirk of her own. "In case you have forgotten, there is still the problem of Azazel to deal with."

"Yeah," Lee nodded his head before slowly standing back up and rubbing his jaw. "I think we vented out our respective frustrations…for now, anyway."

"You were right about one thing, Chaolan," Kazuya said as he stood back up and dusted himself off. "That was very therapeutic indeed. We shall have to do it again sometime." Turning to Jun, the Cold-Blooded Prince's eyes narrowed. "What do you suppose we should do about Azazel?"

"We try to stop him, of course," Jun answered with her voice as serious at it could be. "We cannot let this world fall: it is our responsibility as martial artists to prevent this mad god from fulfilling his equally mad ambitions of total annihilation."

"I am only going to be doing this because I want to, not because of some illusion of responsibility," Kazuya said as he looked into the sky to see the first droplets of rain come down on him before the precipitation intensified. "I suppose it will only be the three of us against that thing."

"Would you rather I call Heihachi and ask for his help?"

"I would rather gouge my left eye out," Kazuya answered Jun's suggestion with a snarl and a cold glare. "Furthermore, I don't want Jin interfering with this either. The last thing I want to hear is his babbling about how ironic it is that I am suddenly defending this city."

"I, too, do not want our son involved," Jun nodded her head in agreement before looking up at the rain herself. "This monster is far too dangerous. Even if he were capable of taking down Azazel, I would not wish for such a task to fall upon him. As a mother, I must protect my son and carry this burden."

"That's good and all, but how will we know where this guy will pop up?" Lee asked a question of his own: one with enough validity to cause Kazuya and Jun to turn their gaze towards him. Knowing that he had their attention, Lee voiced his reasoning. "Tokyo is a very big city: he could land anywhere, at anytime, and by the time we get to where he lands half the city will be destroyed."

As soon as Lee finished that sentence, Jun felt a buzzing in her pocket. Recognizing the buzzing as her cell phone, the former detective pulled the phone out of her pocket and flipped it open before putting the phone to the ear and greeting the caller with a polite "hello."

"Congratulations on defeating the Soul Ripper," a deep and familiar voice greeted the former detective while she put her other hand over the speaking end of the phone to inform Kazuya and Lee that the president of G-Corporation was on the other line. "You should feel proud of yourselves for stopping someone so powerful."

"If you know that we defeated her, then you also know that we did it too late," Jun replied to the president's congratulatory remarks with a stern voice. "Azazel has already been released, and he is coming to destroy this city. Why are you calling us, Mr. President?"

"I am calling you to make sure that you are willing to face this beast in a battle that will surely decide the fate of the world," the president answered truthfully before asking a question of his own. "Do you three think that you are up to the challenge?"

Before Jun could answer, the president's voice broke out into a light laughter. "Forgive me, inspector: I should know better than the ask such superfluous questions. No doubt you and your companions are willing do to whatever it takes to keep this planet from meeting its premature end."

"Again, you already know the answer," Jun's voice became slightly louder, making her frustration with the president's mind games known. "Why are you calling us?"

"Since you answered yes to my previous question, I will tell you," the president's voice matched Jun's own serious tone before he began. "I have spoken with Heihachi: he has agreed on a truce that will cease the hostilities between the Mishima Zaibatsu and my G-Corporation. In return, I will be granted access to the Zaibatsu tower."

"What do you need to do at the tower?"

"My sources tell me that Azazel will be coming here precisely at dawn. It is within my power to create a beacon that will lure him to the tower before he destroys any other part of the city," the president explained while Jun listened intently. "It will be here that the three of you will face the creature and make your final stand."

"So you are not willing to sacrifice the facilities of G-Corporation, but you **are **willing to watch the tower go up in flames if we fail." Jun reasoned out loud with a hint of disdain in her voice. "However dishonorable this may be, we are grateful for your help. We will be at the tower at dawn."

"Excellent," the voice responded without showing even a hint of anger at Jun's accusations. "I wish you the best of luck, warriors, and may the fates favor you when it comes time to do battle with the mighty destroyer Azazel."

"Mere words cannot describe how much I loathe working for that fool," Kazuya told Jun as she hung up her phone and began walking towards their vehicle so they could get out of the rain. "However, I suppose it is a necessary evil." Following Jun, Kazuya turned his head towards Lee. "Come, brother: we shall retire at a hotel for the night so we can be rested at a hotel."

"What about Nagalya," Lee pointed to Nagalya's body that was being drenched in the rain. "Do you think we should just leave her here in the rain to rot?"

"We will come back for her later, Chaolan: we cannot waste energy burying her right now," Jun assured Lee before reaching out to grab his hand. "Believe me, I too wish to properly send her on her way to the afterlife, but for now we have to make sure that Azazel does not cause any damage to this city. If we do that, then she can pass on with a clearer conscience."

"I guess so," Lee nodded his head before turning to the body and blowing a kiss to it while walking with Jun. "Later, beautiful: I'll be back for you soon." After the two of them caught up with Kazuya, Lee's eyes lit up when he realized something. "Kazuya…did you just call me 'brother' a few moments ago?"

"What of it?" Kazuya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"…Nothing, I guess," Lee said with a thin smile.


	23. Resolve

The trio did not sleep well the night before they walked into the Zaibatsu tower.

Between the wounds they suffered at the hands of the Soul Ripper, the bruises Kazuya and Lee gave each other during their sibling brawl, and the stress that came from the knowledge that they were going to be the ones who would challenge a god of death and destruction for the fate of the world, the two Mishima brothers and Jun Kazama were subject to several hours of insomnia before mercifully receiving four hours of sleep.

Four hours of sleep, however, was far better than getting no sleep at all. All three of them were King of Iron Fist veterans: the finest crop of martial artists the world had to offer. Trained to endure under the harshest of conditions and situations, Kazuya, Lee, and Jun had no trouble whatsoever in making due with four hours of sleep.

They arrived at the headquarters of the Mishima Zaibatsu a few minutes before the sun was scheduled to come up, and the security guard let them go in with no questions asked. "Heihachi tells us that you three are going to watch the sunrise from the top of the tower," the guard greeted the trio and told them the lie that the reigning King of Iron Fists told the security in the building so as to keep them from panicking. "Still, I figure that being that you used to run this place you would have seen it before."

"I was never one for sunrises during my time as leader of the Zaibatsu," Kazuya told the guard as they walked towards the elevator. "I was more of a sunset kind of person. However, watching the sunrise on a rainy morning like this sparks the interest of my two associates here. Tell us, though: was there a dark-skinned man who came here earlier last night?"

The guard acknowledged the man's presence: he had arrived only an hour before they did. As the trio watched the elevator door close so that they could begin their ninety-story journey to the roof of the mighty structure, they could not help but wonder how far they could trust the president of G-Corporation. The argument in his favor was that if Azazel succeeded in destroying the world, neither G-Corporation nor the Mishima Zaibatsu could reap the benefits.

The argument against him was that if he possessed the knowledge to lure Azazel to a set location, it was possible that he could also control the monster itself. The fight with the Wisps, the brutal fight with the Soul Ripper, and the collecting of the shards could have just been one massive plot that the president concocted for the sole purpose of using the beast to level the Mishima tower and bring the city to its knees.

"I guess we'll know soon enough," Lee said when Jun voiced what they were all thinking. "Besides, as long as the three of us stick together, there's no way we'll lose to that big freak that's coming to destroy the world. We just have to believe in our strength, believe in our cause, and believe in ourselves!"

"Awfully strange words coming from someone who would have pissed himself at the prospect of facing a creature such as Azazel," Kazuya commented with a smirk. "Did that voice in your head feed that line so that you wouldn't embarrass it by falling onto your knees and begging to be spared?"

Jun did not try to stop the bickering that resulted from Kazuya's comment: there was a lot of tension in the air, and venting it verbally was far better than the brawl that ensued the night before. The steady rain that had come down all throughout the night only enhanced the mood of dread, with thunder and lightning booming and flashing along with it. _Very soon, however, we will ease this tension that we feel, by putting an end to the source of it, _she thought as the trio reached the roof of the tower and stepped out of the elevator. _We will either stop it by defeating Azazel, or it will stop with our deaths._

The trio noticed that someone was standing on the center of the roof: the bald-headed, dark-skinned man in formal dress attire that they had come to known as the leader of G-Corporation. A few weeks ago, both Kazuya and Jun would have considered him their sworn enemy. Now, he was their closest ally in the battle against the Wisps and Azazel: it was nothing short of ironic.

"Welcome, heroes," he shouted to them over the rain that continued to pour from the sky. "I am almost finished with the preparations. My only regret, however, is that my good clothes have been ruined by this infernal rain. Perhaps I will have to get them dry-cleaned when I leave."

"You can cut the small talk, treacherous lout," Kazuya shouted back while he and his companions pulled out their respective umbrellas that they brought with them and opened them to cover their heads from the rain. "This rain is not natural: what can you tell us about it?"

"The world is trying to wash away the evil that has just awakened, of course," the man answered as best as he could, even though the answer he gave didn't really satisfy the Cold-Blooded Prince. "I am sure you are familiar with the classical horror stories that all begin on a dark and stormy night. To be honest, I am surprised there hasn't been anything worse than this."

"Speaking of things that can get worse," Lee interjected as he took a step towards the bald man who was waving his hand to the ground like he was teaching it sign language. "How do we know that this isn't one big trap for us? Given how tired we are from all our previous battles, this would be a great time for G-Corporation to pick the bones."

"I didn't really think of that," the president said with a smirk while his waving hand started to glow with light purple energy. "If someone had suggested that possibility to me earlier, I might have brought some more people with me. However, you have my word that this is not a trap: facing Azazel is enough of a death sentence for anyone."

The glow suddenly stopped as quickly as it came, and the president turned to walk towards the door. "I am done here, so as per my agreement with Heihachi I shall be on my way. I shall be watching this battle closely, so be sure to give me a good show." With one final wave of his hand, the enigmatic leader of G-Corporation bid his enemies goodbye. "Until we meet again, warriors…if we meet again, that is."

Letting the man pass them by, the trio tilted their heads upwards to see the dark gray clouds part just above their heads to reveal a swirling mountain of lightning and thunder. _I guess this is it, _Jun muttered as she heard the elevator doors close behind her with an electronic tone. _This is where everything we have fought for comes to a head._

"There is something in the clouds," she told Kazuya and Lee, whose eyes remained fixated on the vortex of atmospheric phenomenon. "Surely you two can sense a ki that is this overwhelming: it is as if we are witnessing God coming down from the heavens to wreak judgment on us mortals."

"Even I can sense it, so it must be big," Lee whispered before pointing to the vortex in the sky. "Something is coming down! Look!"

At first, the thing that Lee was pointing at was a small dot in the sky. However, the dot steadily became bigger and bigger until it stopped being a dot altogether and became a figure. Kazuya and Jun instantly recognized the figure as it descended towards them: it was the very same creature that Zafina had shown them, monstrous features and all.

However, this was the first time that Lee had laid eyes on the creature: given the description that Jun gave of the monster, he knew the destroyer was ugly. When it gracefully landed on the roof of the Mishima tower despite its immense size and weight, the silver-haired playboy stared at it in shock and horror. "Hey Kazuya, remember when you told me that you were surprised that I hadn't wet myself thinking about facing this monster?" Lee said with his voice bordering on a mere whimper. "I think I just let loose the waterworks…"

"That is disgusting, but at least you are honest about it," Kazuya said with a quiet voice as the monster Azazel lifted his ugly head to observe the three people he was sharing the roof with. "If you so frightened, why do you not run away? You could always let Jun and I handle it while you act a reserve?"

"No way: as a man, I have to face my fears, no matter how intimidating that might be," Lee shook his head from side to side before slowly assuming his fighting stance. "Besides, if everyone is to die today, I would like to die alongside the two of you: we've gone through so much together these past couple of weeks, we might as well see it through to the end."

"Lower your fighting stance, Chaolan," Jun gently commanded Lee, which garnered a look of surprise from both the silver-haired warrior and Kazuya. "Perhaps we can reason with it to go back to his tomb. I know it's probably pointless, but I would like to at least try before engaging in violent battle."

"…somehow, I am not against it," Kazuya said with a shrug as he watched Jun step towards the beast. "It'll give us more time to prepare ourselves for the inevitable clash."

Once Jun was with fifteen paces of Azazel, Jun spoke to the great destroyer in her calmest and gentlest voice she had: one that she hoped would make even the coldest of hearts thaw. "Mighty entity of death and destruction, we welcome you to our city with open arms. The people of Tokyo acknowledge your presence, and humbly beg that you spare this world from your fury."

"_Woman," _a dark and foreboding voice echoed throughout the recesses of Jun's mind: it would appear that telepathy was not out of the question for the powerful Azazel. _"You presume much to think that I will spare this world when it had been drenched so much in sin."_

"What makes you think this world is beyond saving?" Jun asked the creature as his eyes glowed a fiery red like twin pits of hell. "Several times it has seemed like the world would fall into ruin, and every time heroes have risen up to save the world and make it so that peace would reign once again."

"_They were fools who were merely delaying the inevitable," _Azazel retorted before slowly lifting one of his massive hands and motioning towards Lee and Kazuya who were standing behind Jun and listening to her words. _"The silver-haired mortal has committed the sins of lust and jealousy many times over, while the black-haired mortal sold his soul to the Devil and tried to engulf the world in darkness and chaos. If these are the heroes that will save this world, what does that say about mankind?"_

"This may be true, but even they are not incapable of changing," Jun defended her two comrades to the best of her abilities, digging deep within her heart to remember the goodness that resided within the two of them. "Lee has risked his life to protect this city, and even the woman that acted as your priestess. Kazuya, too, has played the part of defender, even when it was not in his best interest."

"_It makes little difference: the two evil stars have already met, signaling that it is my time to shine," _Azazel turned his back towards Jun and looked down at the city below. As he did so, his eyes shone with bright blue energy and while the intensity of his ki rose sharply. _"If you leave now, then you will still have time to cherish what little moments you have left. Leave me be so that I may perform the task bestowed upon me by the old gods!"_

Realizing that Azazel was about to utilize the eye beams that Zafina's vision had displayed him performing, Jun ran up the beast and stomped on his tail. This caused the monster to let out a terrifying roar while he lifted his head and let his eye beams fire off into the sky. "You know that we cannot do that, honorable Azazel. As citizens of this mighty earth, we will fight for our survival."

"_Foolish mortal," _Azazel turned around and lifted his mighty hand in preparation of squashing the former detective like an insect under a fly swatter. _"It is clear that you missed the cold embrace of death: I shall grant your request and thrust you back into her arms!" _

With a wide-arcing backflip, Jun evaded the lethal hand that would have crushed her and assumed her fighting stance. "Gentlemen, it would seem that negotiations have gone sour," she told them as they ran past her and charged the monster. "Our final battle begins now: let us fight it honorably!"

Lee was in such a rush to fight the creature, however, that he didn't notice that the shards around his neck that would transform him into the armored warrior Soul Breaker had not yet fully activated. Jumping into the air as high as he could so he could strike Azazel in the chest with a high-impact Silver Sting, Lee was surprised to see that he bounced right off of the monster as if he had kicked a wall.

With a swat of his massive claw, Azazel sent Lee careening away like an out-of-control airplane before crashing into the ground flat on his back and rolling backwards once to finally stop with his face up against the concrete. "Ow," he groaned as he struggled to stand back up. "That really hurt: I feel like a truck just ran over me."

When Kazuya took to the air for his own attempt at a jump kick, however, he faired slightly better than his younger brother. Even though he too bounced off of the monster, Kazuya forced Azazel to take a couple of steps backwards in recoil. "Despicable creature," he said with a snarl forming across his lips as landed on his feet and ran back towards the monster with his fist raised. "I'll show you who is the superior creature!"

Before the Cold-Blooded Prince could apply his ki-infused fists and activate his morpher that would summon his Shinkenger armor, Azazel snatched him off the ground like a young child picking up an action figure. Lifting him prominently over his head for a few moments, Azazel brought his arm down and smashed Kazuya into the pavement with monstrous force. The unfathomable strength of the monster, combined with the sheer height from which he was dropped, was enough to cause the gray-haired Mishima to lie still for a few moments.

When Azazel tried to crush the man that dared to oppose him with a stomp, however, Jun quickly ran up to Kazuya and pulled him out of harm's way. Charging her ki into her morpher, Jun made sure her companion was still breathing and rushed towards the beast with her body enveloped in golden light. By the time Jun's fist connected with the monster's lower abdomen, she had already turned into ShinkenGold.

Out of the initial three attacks that the trio had attempted, Jun's suit-enhanced punch was the most effective. It caused Azazel to actually roar and cover his lower abdomen with his massive hands. This gave the opportunity for the former detective to try and chop the bigger foe down by attacking his legs with stiff kicks. Each kick was further emphasized by Jun's firework-like ki that sparkling upon impact, and the monster grunted each time she had made contact.

Just when it seemed that the mighty Azazel would be forced down onto one knee, however, the creature suddenly sprung into action and sent Jun sprawling backwards with a swipe of his claw. Thanks to his long reach, Azazel was able to actually strike the former detective with another swipe while she was still flying backwards from the last swipe. Landing on her hands and feet, Jun stood back up and resumed her fighting stance while Kazuya and Lee stood back up and prepared for another go.

Just as they were prepared to morph into their respective alter egos, however, the two brothers were suddenly lifted into the air by an invisible force with their arms bound by equally invisible chains. "It's bad enough that you're a giant," Lee complained as he struggled to break free. "Don't you think it's more than a little unfair that you have telekinesis, too!?"

As if seeing the logic in Lee's whining, Azazel released his hold on the silver-haired playboy by hurling him into Jun and causing the both of them to fall to the ground. However, the destroyer kept Kazuya afloat as he struggled to break free. _"This man has not yet let go of his evil powers, yet he stands on the side of angels," _Azazel spoke to Jun via psychic connection once again without breaking his gaze of Kazuya. _"Why has he not yet submitted to the Devil within?"_

"Kazuya's mind is far stronger than that," Jun explained as she and Lee finally moved away from each other so the former detective could charge towards the monster with a full run. "He has trained incredibly hard so that he does not become the Devil's puppet: his destiny is his to make and his alone."

"_His soul is indeed powerful: it is a shame that my priestess was not strong enough to obtain it for my use," _Azazel slammed Kazuya face-first into the ground with his telekinetic powers and watched him carefully as he slowly pushed himself off the ground. _"However, from what little I can read from his mind, I notice that you are prominent within it. Is your bond with this man strong?"_

Like a linebacker, Jun used her entire body as a striking weapon and crashed shoulder-first into Azazel's leg, disturbing the creature's balance and forcing him to fall onto one knee. "My bond with Kazuya is the reason that I still live today. Mere words cannot describe the union that we share, and no explanation will do it justice."

"_Interesting indeed," _Azazel put his massive hand in front of his face to shield himself from the bolts of golden energy that erupted from Jun's hands shortly after she caused him to fall onto one knee. After Jun ceased the volley of blasts, Azazel brought his hand down once again as if he wanted to crush the former detective, but she backflipped away just in time to avoid it. What she was not able to avoid, however, was the shockwave that came from where the hand made impact: a mole-like wave of concrete and debris and sent Jun sprawling backwards.

Just when Kazuya and Lee were about to pick up where Jun left off by shrugging off the telekinetic attacks they had endured and once again try to transform to their respective alter-egos, the mighty Azazel suddenly thrusted his palm towards the brothers just as their bodies were engulfed in light. "I wonder what was that all about," Lee said as the armor of the Soul Breaker materialized around his body. "Hey, Kazuya what do you think of-OH MY GOD!"

Kazuya had indeed been engulfed in light, but it was not the purplish hue that he intended to summon. Instead, his body had been enveloped in bright blue flames that were not his own. His screams of agony echoed throughout the ears of both Lee and Jun as he burned like firewood. "These flames are not natural," he roared as he continued to writhe. "Something in them is affecting my mind!"

"It could be that you're on fire, idiot," Lee exclaimed as he pushed Kazuya to the ground. "Didn't you learn anything in school? Stop, drop and roll!" When the Cold-Blooded Prince did so, however, the flames did not die down. Now on his knees gasping for air, Kazuya groaned as Lee noticed that despite the inferno engulfing his body…his clothes had not caught fire.

"He's right, this fire is not natural," Jun exclaimed as she put a hand on Kazuya's shoulder and noticed that there was no heat radiating from his body. "It's some kind of curse that the beast put on him! However, I don't know what it pertains to: we're completely in the dark, Kazuya!"

To both Jun and Lee's horror, it did not take long to see what Azazel's intentions were: Kazuya's grit teeth suddenly elongated into fangs, and his skin started to darken into a purplish hue. Upon seeing both of his eyes flashing red, along with leathery wings beginning to grow from his back, Kazuya's two companions instantly recognized what was happening.

"_Show me the strength of your bond, Devil charmer," _Azazel told Jun as he turned his attention to the charging Lee. _"If the flames are not extinguished by the time he is truly transformed, then the Devil entity that he buried will have completely reemerged and his consciousness will be gone forever. He will become my assistant in the destruction of this world, and together we will become the ultimate enforcers of karma."_

"I won't let that happen," Jun said quietly before turning turning her attention to Kazuya. "Kazuya, you have to fight it! You are much more powerful than any demon: show the Devil entity just how much stronger you are!"

"Get away from me," Kazuya said between grit teeth as he swatted Jun away while he rose back up and continued to grip his head in pain. "Deal with Azazel: he is much more of a threat than the Devil! I can handle this on my own!" With both his eyes burning brighter than stars, the Cold-Blooded Prince turned to Jun. "Are you…brain-dead!? I gave you an order!"

Jun never even considered doing as Kazuya told her: she could already feel the Devil entity within him take hold again. _This was the same Devil that took him over as a child and led him down the path of evil, _she thought with a clenched fist as she demorphed to reveal her civilian attire. _This was the same Devil that tried to enter my womb so he could possess Jin! How can I just not pay mind to him while Kazuya suffers!?_

"What…are you doing?" Kazuya growled before letting out another roar of pain. "Do as I tell you! Forget about me and make sure Lee doesn't kill himself! We'll be in…very big trouble if he winds up dead!" His fingernails started to become sharp and pointy, and the ends of his shoes burst to reveal long toenails. "My consciousness is almost gone: move, before I decide to destroy you!"

"You won't destroy me, Kazuya," Jun assured her as she deliberately disobeyed Kazuya and walked towards him while taking off her own combat gloves. "You will conquer this curse, because I will be here to help you do it." Placing her hand on Kazuya's cheek, Jun focused her energy until the hand glowed against it.

The flames died down slightly to give way to Jun's glowing hand, and dark purple smoke emerged from Kazuya's body. "Why do you help me, Jun?" Kazuya asked in a quieter voice, though still strained due to the pain of the flames burning away his soul. "I have been a thorn in your side for many years, disregarding your morals and concepts at every turn by following my own agenda. I even tried to kill Jin, who I know you treasure more than anyone else."

"How many times do I have to repeat myself?" Jun asked while she moved closer to Kazuya and moved her hand to Kazuya's shoulder. "I swore that I would remain by your side. That means that I will be aiding you now, and possibly forevermore. Besides, you have not disregarded my morals and concepts: in fact, just now you displayed them."

The horns coming out of Kazuya's head shrunk back into his head, and his fangs shortened until his teeth once again represented a much more human mouth. "How do you figure this, Jun?"

"You did not think only of yourself: you told us to forget about you so that we could handle Azazel with no distractions," Jun answered with a thin smile while the flames continued to die down and Kazuya's fingernails and toenails returned to their normal length. "You cared for the safety of your brother over your own safety, and asked for me to help him: that is called selflessness, Kazuya, and it a marvelous trait to have."

The flames had almost died out completely when Jun wrapped her other arm around Kazuya to put him in a gentle embrace, and his skin returned to its original pigment. "I suppose your weakness has rubbed off on me significantly. However, I made the decision to achieve absolution in my fists by embracing both good and evil. I suppose I have reached the turning point…"

"Not yet, Kazuya," Jun whispered while her face slowly made its way closer to Kazuya's. "You are closer than you can imagine, but that is a discussion for another time…"

"You know," Kazuya said with a growl, "I hate it when you act like this: I find it unbecoming to be seen like this."

"Consider it my act of rebellion…"

With that answer, Jun pressed her lips against Kazuya and locked him into a deep kiss. As she did so, Kazuya's eyes changed from hellish red to brilliant blue as the holy Kazama power eased the storm that had been brewing in his mind. _Kazuya, you are the reason that I still live, and why I continue to look forward to a bright new day, _Jun silently told Kazuya while she became lost in the kiss. _I will be by your side forever, and continue to help you salvage your soul until I can finally call you my lover!_

After several seconds, Kazuya gently pushed Jun away and he fell to his knees. "I suppose I should thank you for the assist," he said between haggard breaths while he wiped the sweat from his brow. "However, you only pushed back the Devil spirit: now I will have to bury him all over again until I can ignore his voice again."

"How much time to do you need, Kazuya?" Jun asked with her voice filled with concern.

"A few minutes at the most," Kazuya said with a smirk. "The Devil spirit has always been weak: it was only with that damn Azazel's help that he was able to come up as far as he did just now. If you and Lee can buy me some time, I should be able to join you and bring this demon to his knees."

An anguished cry pierced the air and Lee flew through the air and landed right in front of Kazuya and Jun with a sickening thud. His Soul Breaker armor now had deep gashes, and his moans were now loud and pained. "He's…really tough," Lee said as he tried to get off the ground only to fall right back down on his back. "I don't suppose I could have a breather now…"

"Rest as much as you like, Lee," Jun said with a newfound coldness in her voice as her morpher once again started to glow. "I shall enter the battle for real now."

"_Impressive," _Azazel noted Jun's determination with a psychic message as a swarm of crystal shards flew from the sky like bees and put themselves between himself and Jun. _"You have soothed the Devil, and lifted my curse. You have proven yourself worthy of facing me."_

The shards flew at Jun at once, threatening to rip her to shreds with their sharp edges. However, a flash of golden light sent each of the shards flying away harmlessly as Jun once again donned the guise of the Holy Defender of Truth, ShinkenGold. _Father, grant me your strength and ruthlessness. _Jun thought to her deceased father that she had helped dispatch two months before as she clenched her fists and charged towards Azazel with violent intent. _Grant me the means to defeat this monster that has threatened this world that I love so much, so that I may show him the strength of my soul!_


	24. Climax

Jun's fist collided with Azazel's finger with such great force that the sound of the impact was heard all the way from where Lee and Kazuya were recuperating. Even though Jun was at an obvious size disadvantage, her will was second to none, and the power of her suit reflected the power of her will by allowing her to hold her own against the creature that she was struggling against.

Minutes before, Jun and her two companions finally came face to face with the god that the Wisps had been trying to resurrect for the past two months. At first, the former detective tried to reason with Azazel by telling him that his quest for total annihilation did not have to be followed as the world was not beyond saving. Even though she knew that talk like that would most likely not be heard, Jun felt like she had to try.

Azazel would have none of it, and attacked the trio to begin the battle that would decide the fate of the planet. The three warriors quickly learned that the god was not an enemy to be taken lightly, as he used his superior size and strength to his advantage and render a good portion of the small combatant's techniques ineffective.

To further add insult to injury, Azazel engulfed Kazuya in mystic fire and nearly ripped his mind in half by digging up the Devil entity that he had buried and bringing it out into the open. If not for Jun's assistance, the Cold-Blooded Prince would have been no more, and in his place would have stood the violet demon that tried to enter Jun's womb and take control of their unborn son.

_I will not forgive Azazel for what he did, _Jun muttered while she continued to struggle against the power of the beast's index finger. After several seconds of deadlock, the former detective fired a bolt of golden energy at Azazel's exposed head and forced him to break the deadlock so he could cover his face. _I will show him the error of his ways by forcing him to submit!_

While Jun's righteous fury may be been formidable, she still knew that it would take a lot more than rage and anger to stop a being as powerful as Azazel. With the swarm of crystals he had summoned earlier, the destroyer sent Jun spiraling backwards with a surge of shards blasting at her at once. Fighting the creature alone was bad enough, but worrying about the shards was another problem in and of itself.

"_I can feel the rage in your heart, woman," _Azazel sent a psychic transmission to Jun as he uncovered his face and lowered his arms in prepare for another series of attacks. _"Before, you were calm and collected, but all it took was a nudge in the right place to turn you into what humanity truly is."_

"What, pray tell, do you think humanity really is?" Jun asked as she blocked Azazel's swipe, and although she was sent sliding across the pavement, the former detective remained on her feet. "Do you see us as snarling beasts like yourself? Do you see us as beings who know only of rage, anger and hatred?"

"_If I did not, then I would not have been released," _Azazel defended his view of humanity before pointing at his foe to send two-dozen lethal shards charging at her. _"If humanity was truly worth saving, then the evil stars that clashed would not have existed in this world to begin with."_

"You are referring to my friends and family," Jun said in a stern and unforgiving voice as she swatted away each and every shard that came at her using her lightning-like reflexes. "They are my responsibility, and not yours. If you are going to accuse them of being this world's end, then you will have to answer to me!"

After deflecting the final shard that Azazel sent to slice her, Jun charged towards her overgrown adversary and charged her hands with her sparkling ki until they glowed a shimmering golden. Azazel tried to stop her by smashing his hand on the ground, hoping to squash her underneath his palm. However, Jun rolled to the side and avoided the fatal smash and continued advancing.

Taking to the air with her hand raised, Jun struck Azazel squarely in the chest with a burning palm thrust. The impact of the attack caused even the massive destroyer to take a couple of steps back in recoil. Not yet done, the former detective clung to Azazel's chest with her other hand and scaled the creature like a mountain. _If I can attack him a vital area, then I can end this early, _Jun reasoned as she continued pouring her ki into her hands so that she could keep the creature distracted long enough for her to reach his neck. _I will have saved this world, without putting Kazuya and Lee in danger._

While the plan sounded good in theory, putting it into practice would be a difficult task. Ignoring the pain, Azazel grabbed onto Jun's lithe figure and pried her off of his chest. The destroyer stared at her with his fiery red eyes while she struggled to break free, and then flung her to the ground like a stone. The sheer impact of Jun's landing left a crack in the crater in the roof of the Zaibatsu tower, and Azazel let out a roar of triumph, thinking that he had broken the woman.

However, Jun was far from defeated: pushing herself off the ground and returning to her feet, the former detective looked up and smiled to herself upon seeing the eyes of Azazel widen in surprise. _My suit absorbed most of the impact, _she told herself as she sidestepped out of the way of Azazel's downward smack. _As long as that holds out, I should be able to survive crushing attacks like that._

Lifting her foot high into the air and bringing it down on Azazel's massive hand in an axe kick motion, Jun elicited an angry roar from the beast and allowed her the opportunity to focus her ki once again and fire off three bolts of energy at her adversary. With his hand still on the ground due to Jun's axe kick, Azazel received the full impact of the blasts to the face.

The blasts did little to hurt him physically, but they did blind him, and that gave Jun a new opportunity to inflict some pain. Running closer to the beast so that she was directly underneath him, Jun jumped up and struck Azazel underneath his legs where he could not protect himself. The attack worked, as the beast let out a howl of pain as he reached down and covered where he had been hit.

Before Jun could do any more damage in that vulnerable area, however, Azazel lifted his foot and tried to crush Jun underneath it with a massive stomp. The former detective backflipped away, but that was the reaction the destroyer was hoping for. Lifting his other foot, Azazel successfully landed a soccer kick that sent Jun sprawling backwards and landing on her stomach.

Quickly returning to her feet, Jun resumed her fighting stance and jumped over the shockwave of debris that came from where Azazel punched the ground and again tried to attack the beast's upper body. Thanks to the way that the destroyer was hunched over, she was able to reach the tip of the creature's nose and strike it with a flying slash kick.

To Jun's good fortune, the impact of the attack knocked the monster completely off of his feet for the very first time. Landing flat on his rear end, Azazel was forced into a sitting position while he rubbed his nose in pain. _Now's my chance, _Jun thought as she landed gracefully on the ground before rushing right back towards the monster. _It's time to capitalize!_

Going straight for the creature's midsection, Jun attacked Azazel with a flurry of punches that moved faster than the eye could see. Concluding the flurry with a wild uppercut that that left a streak of ki in its wake, Jun let out a loud "yes" when she noticed the small gash that the uppercut left in the monster's stomach. _I finally made a dent! Maybe this battle isn't so hopeless!_

Before Jun could attack the gash, Azazel quickly stood back up and sent the former detective flying backwards a swipe of his mighty hand. Using his superior reach, Azazel snatched the woman out of the air and flung her into the ground with great force. The former detective let out a moan as she slowly stood back up and resumed her stance. _My will is strong, _she whispered as she charged her ki once again. _I know that he is not invincible, for all of his strength._

Using the inhuman speed that her suit granted her, Jun warped in front of Azazel and struck him in his groin with a high-impact elbow, immediately followed by a single punch and simultaneous twin palm thrusts that caused the monster to grunt in pain. Concluding her onslaught with a jumping spin kick, the former detective sent the creature stumbling backwards.

"I'm not done yet," Jun said out loud while she again charged her ki before returning on the offensive. "You still have not seen what I am truly capable of!"

Targeting Azazel's leg, the former detective attacked with very stiff, battle axe-like kicks that were emphasized by the ki that was poured into each kick. Every time her leg made impact, a flash of firework-like energy emerged from the point of impact. Furthermore, the beast was so hurt by each kick that he was unable to fight back: stunned by the sharp pain he was feeling.

After the ninth kick, Jun spun in place and cut the bigger foe down with a powerful Spinning Heel Drop. If Azazel's leg had been a human body, the attack would have cracked open the human's skull and left him a shell of a person. Against the force of the kick, the creature's leg gave way and forced the monster to fall onto one knee. _I'm doing it: I'm actually winning, _Jun thought with a smile as she performed three consecutive backflips to put distance between her and the beast. _All I have to do is focus my energy into one final attack!_

With her entire body glowing brighter than the sun that was being hidden by the dark clouds in the sky, Jun reared back and focused her ki into both of her palms while clasping them together. "Azazel, I am going to send you back to where you belong," Jun shouted out as energy most pure and fierce swirled around her hands. "Take this attack, and leave this world in peace!"

Once she felt that her ki had reached its zenith, Jun shot out both of her palms and a massive wave of energy erupted from them like exhaust from a rocket. The beam crashed into Azazel at full force, and the creature voiced the impact with a loud and echoing roar that could be heard for miles. This was the same attack that Jun had used to end her father's mad ambitions: the Tekkenshu Maelstrom.

Jun poured every ounce of her energy into the beam, along with all of her hopes and dreams. _For Kazuya, for Lee, for my son, and for all of my friends and family, _Jun thought before letting out a frustrated yell while she forced one last surge of energy into that attack. _For everyone who lives on this earth, I banish you to a place where you can do them no harm!_

After what seemed like an eternity, Jun lowered her hands and ended her attack. Taking deep and tired breaths, Jun allowed herself a smile. _Nothing could have survived that, _Jun mumbled as she sat down to catch her breath, _nothing even a god of death…right?_

Jun's relief soon turned to horror, however, as a familiarly massive ki once again made itself known to her. Looking up to see where Jun had blasted Azazel, the former detective let out a gasp of shock as the dust settled to reveal that the beast was standing back up. _"You have angered me, woman," _Azazel told the former detective as he let loose a roar of defiance and rage. _"Feel my wrath: survive if I let you!"_

Finally done with standing in place, Azazel charged the tired Jun and snatched her off the ground just before she was trampled underfoot. Crushing the woman in his hand until she screamed in pain, the destroyer slammed Jun into the ground with so much force that she bounced like a basketball. With his prey airborne, Azazel sent Jun flying backwards with a backhanded swat.

_This is not good, _Jun thought bitterly as she struggled to get back up. _I exhausted a lot of my energy into that attack: I was hoping that would be the attack that would finish this! There is no way I can fight back like this! _

When she did finally get back onto her feet, Jun was sent right back down again with twin attacks: a vertical hand chop that stunned her, and a forward hand thrust that sent her careening away. The woman landed flat on her back with a thud, but her spirit would not die. Even though it was not in her best interest, she stood back up and prepared for more.

Realizing that she would be of no use to anyone dead, Jun tossed aside her doubts and charged Azazel once again. _All I have to do is get him off his feet like last time, _she strategized as the monster crouched down to prepare for her next attack, whatever it would be. _As long as I can do that, I'll have a chance of winning._

However, the crystal shards that Azazel brought to the battlefield once again became a factor in the battle. Placing themselves between the destroyer and the defender once again, the shards spiraled around and around until they suddenly lunged at Jun like a swarm of bees. Too tired to block, the former detective took the full force of the swarm as the crystals ricocheted off her suit, drawing forth sparks and cries of pain each time they made contact.

Falling onto one knee, Jun struggled for air as fatigue began to set in. However, Azazel was not one to give his opponent respite, especially since he had a duty to bring an end to everything. Spinning around, Azazel's tail sprang into action and launched Jun into the air with a high-impact sweep. Once he had completed his 360-degree spin, Azazel willed his shards into action and they all converged on the former detective to send her falling to the ground headfirst while they again bombarded her lithe figure.

In a more bizarre attack, Azazel rolled towards Jun while she slowly pushed herself off the ground. Using his long tail as a hammer, the destroyer smashed Jun right back onto her face like a metaphorical nail. Rolling two more times and bringing his tail down on his prey with each roll, Azazel stood back up and noticed that Jun was lying still.

Slowly lifting Jun off the ground with his telekinetic powers, Azazel tilted his head in curiosity and wondered if he had really killed this woman. His question was soon answered, however, as the former detective let out a moan and shook her head from side to side in an attempt to shrug off the dizziness that had taken hold of her. "You…will not win, Azazel…"

Frustrated with Jun's persistence, Azazel's eyes glowed with light blue energy and his ki rose sharply. _I have seen this attack before, in Zafina's vision, _Jun struggled to break free of Azazel's telekinesis when she realized what was going on. _He is going to blast me with a powerful beam of energy!_

Unfortunately for Jun, she was unable to break away in time and she received the full brunt of the blast. The woman let out a piercing scream as energy most pure and foul invaded her body just as her Tekkenshu Maelstrom invaded the creature. _"I can taste your despair," _Azazel silently told Jun while she continued to scream in pain and agony. _"Feel the agony, knowing that you are helpless against my might!"_

After the beam had died down, Azazel allowed Jun to fall on the ground. _I…have failed, _Jun whispered to herself while she felt the shadow of the beast that had done everything short of tearing her limb from limb loom over here ominously. _I have failed my friends, I have failed my family…and I have failed my planet. He has beaten me into…what am I saying!?_

Clenching her fists as she lay face down, Jun once again tried to stand back up. _I cannot just give up! If I do, everyone will die! I should be ashamed to even think of something as selfish as submission! _Snatched off the ground once again by the monster's claw, the former detective thrashed about wildly to try and break free of Azazel's grip. Her thrashing only increased as Azazel brought her closer and closer to his face so that he could bite her head off. _Failure is not an option! I have to do something now!_

"WAI-YA!"

An instant after a familiar piercing battle cry entered Jun's ears, Azazel roared in agony and relinquished his hold on the former detective's body. Rather than land on the ground unceremoniously, however, a pair of armor-clad arms caught Jun. Looking up to see who was her savior, the woman smiled beneath the cloak of her helmet. "Sorry if I'm stealing your thunder," her savior said before gently placing her on the ground and assuming his fighting stance as Azazel looked down to see who attacked him. "I hope you do not mind if I but in now!"

"You…saved my life, Chaolan," Jun bowed her head with great humility and gratitude. "Mere words cannot describe how thankful I am to have you by my side in this battle. I should not have tried to fight this on my own."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Lee gave Jun a light pat on the shoulder before reaching under her chin and tilting her head up to where he could see her masked face. "The fact that you brought me this far is proof of how amazing you are. It is a shame that you only have eyes for Kazuya: I would have been proud to give up all of my riches for you."

"I was under the impression that you only had eyes for Nagalya now," Jun replied with a hint of amusement in her voice as the two of them simultaneously rolled away from Azazel's vertical hand chop that would have crushed both of them like insects. "Have you gotten over her death so quickly?"

"Of course not," Lee answered before both he and Jun stomped on Azazel's downed hand with all of their might to elicit a roar of pain and force him to retract his arm and rub where he had been hit. "However, I realize that there are bigger things right now than avenging her death…like taking out the trash!"

"_Your companion is only delaying the inevitable, woman," _Azazel roared in Jun's mind as he used his other hand to punch the ground and unleash another shockwave of metal and concrete while letting loose a loud growl. _"I shall break him out of his shell, and feast on the guts within: I will plunge you in despair, as you watch while I eat his flesh!"_

"Hey, Jun, did he just talk to us?" Lee asked while he jumped over the shockwave to strike Azazel in the chest with a powerful snapping side kick. "How about you translate for me, and I'll respond to him accordingly?"

"He said that he intends to break you out of your suit, and feast on your soft flesh," Jun answered truthfully while she ran up the stunned Azazel and sent him stumbling backwards with a swiping elbow strike that was further emphasized with a flash of her ki. "Does this trouble you, Chaolan?"

"He can't scare me anymore than he already does," Lee replied with his voice full of amusement while he once again struck the creature with a snapping jump side kick"Tell him that if he really wants to get me trembling, he can jump off this building and never come back! That'll really fill me with despair!"

Angered by Lee's arrogance, Azazel let out another frightening roar and again tried to squash Lee with his mighty hand. To his surprise, however, Lee put his hands up and attacking caught the hand without being crushed underneath its weight. "You…know what?" Lee strained as he continued to push against the palm and try to keep himself from being crushed. "When you first reared your ugly head, I thought it was game over."

Azazel's eyes widened as Lee continued to push his hand back, as if the silver-haired warrior's strength was greater than his own. His astonishment soon turned to anguish, as he felt a stinging sensation in the same hand. Eventually, the pain became too great and he took his hand off of Lee to see that the warrior's hands were glowing silver: the power of his ki had trumped his brute force.

"As I was saying," Lee continued as he resumed his fighting stance and carefully watched the monster's movements so as to avoid being taken off-guard. "I thought that we would all be done for, especially when you took me down so quick and set Kazuya on fire. Now I see that you're just a really big freak with a few superpowers. You're tough, but you're nowhere near invincible."

As if to answer Lee's taunts, Azazel launched the shimmering warrior high into the air with a massive upward swipe. Snatching his adversary out of the air like a child catching a falling ball, the destroyer slammed him into the pavement and scrubbed him against the pavement like a rag.

He was soon forced to let go of him, however, in the wake of Jun's quick burst of ki that struck his hand. Although stunned from the attack, Lee was able to crawl away to safety and avoid being grabbed again. "OK, that was…a little better," he said with a slightly shaken-up voice. "Still, it'll take more than that to take me down!"

"Why are you egging him on, Chaolan?" Jun asked curiously while they prepared for Azazel's next attack. "Do you have a plan of some sort?"

"Something like that," Lee answered before watching the swarm of crystal shards make another pass around Azazel until they were orbiting around him at enormous speeds. "You just follow my lead, and everything will be OK."

Charging his ki into his hands, Lee fired off a blast of energy at Azazel. However, it was deflected by one of the shards, and dissipated harmlessly in the swarm that surrounded the great destroyer. "Just as I planned," he said with a smile as he pointed underneath where the swarm was hovering at the crystalline debris underneath. "We just have to pour it on until those shards are gone!"

Before either Lee or Jun could begin that mission, however, the swarm suddenly expanded and engulfed the two warriors. Inside the maelstrom of crystals, the cries of pain of both of them caused a cruel smile to form across Azazel's hideous face as sparks flew out of their armors every time a crystal slashed at them…and that was very frequent indeed.

After a few seconds of this, the two fighters were flung to the ground looking far worse for wear. The gashes that had been cut into Lee's suit earlier now had others like it across the legs, arms, and even the helmet. Jun, who had already sustained serious damage, now had deep cuts in her legs and chest, as well as a deep gash in her visor that clouded her vision slightly.

"OK," Lee said with a groan as he struggled to get back to his feet. "I guess it was a good idea in theory, but his control over them is just too great." Helping Jun back onto her feet, the silver-haired warrior clenched his fist as frustration began to set in. "Dammit! There has to be a way to distract him long enough to isolate him from those shards!"

"We mustn't give up hope, Chaolan," Jun tried to boost the spirit of her comrade as Azazel lifted his foot and prepared to crush them underneath his leg. Rolling backwards to avoid the stomp, the two warriors stood back up and watched as the shards against rocketed towards them, threatening to slice them apart. "Brace yourself: here they come again!"

The two of them closed their eyes, expecting to once again be put through excruciating pain in the wake of the shards. However, what they felt instead was the vibrating in their eardrums that they instantly recognized as the sound of crystals shattering. Looking up to see what was going on, both Lee and Jun smiled from beneath the cloak of their helmets to see that purplish beams of energy being fired at a very rapid rate were quickly eliminating the shards.

"As usual, I have to make sure that you two are kept out of trouble," Kazuya said with his own Shinkenger suit hugging his body. With beams of ki that would pierce a man as easily as a needle would go through thread continuing to fire from his two index fingers, Kazuya continued his monologue. "At least you two did me the favor of weakening the beast enough for me to get rid of his weapons."

After several more seconds of firing, the swarm that had given Lee and Jun so much trouble was reduced to a pile of glittering rubble. Stepping forward to join his two comrades, the Cold-Blooded Prince slowly assumed his fighting stance and allowed himself a soft chuckle when he noticed the surprise on Azazel's face. "If I were a compassionate man, I would feel sorry for this creature and its fate…too bad that I am not a compassionate man."

With his fist clenched, Kazuya charged towards Azazel with violent intent. Jumping over Azazel's tail whip and soaring high into the air, the Cold-Blooded Prince struck the monster on his massive chin with a Thunder Godfist. The impact of the attack was so

great that it did something that neither Jun or Lee could do: it floored the great creature and put him on his back.

"Where is your fury now, beast?" Kazuya asked as he landed on Azazel's chest and started pounding away at it with crackling mounted punches. "You seemed so sure of yourself when you ignited me and tried to erase my mind. Did you really think that I, Kazuya Mishima, would fall under such a technique?"

With an angry roar, Azazel pulled Kazuya off of his chest and tossed him away like a football. Upon doing that, his roaring and growling increased while he stood up and fired off another blast of energy into the sky. "It would seem that we have angered the beast," Kazuya commented as he landed gracefully on his feet and ran up to where his two comrades were watching in awe. "Now all we have to do is make sure that we do not become victim to his rage."

"His ki is rising far too rapidly," Jun pointed out with her voice full of concern. The beast Azazel was now glowing like a light bulb, and the intensity of the light he gave off increased with every passing moment. "At this rate, he will explode and take this city with him!"

"To be fair, his ki is too great for simply taking out the city," Kazuya added with calmness in his voice that would make it seem as if he was talking about the matter over a cup of tea. "I wouldn't be surprised if by the time he reached his peak, he took out all of Japan."

Another angry roar escaped the monster's jaws as he spun around and fired off another deadly ray of energy from his eyes. The blast struck a neighboring building, and the massive explosion rocketed the sides of it as soon as the beam made contact. A few moments later, the dust settled and revealed the building was now hanging by a metaphorical thread, teetering precariously towards its neighbors.

"I think it's time we wrapped this up, before his rage annihilates the city," Lee exclaimed as his hands glowed fiercely with white energy. "I'll keep him still: you guys pour it on with everything you got!" Once the glow had reached its zenith, the silver-haired warrior unleashed the energy in his hands and turned it on Azazel. When the blast made contact, a ring of power encircled and bound the creature's arms. Another of its kind immediately followed the ring, and another and another until the monster looked more like a giant, glowing mummy.

Once he was sure that Azazel would be unable to escape his next attack, Lee jumped impossibly high into the air and let out a piercing shout as he reached the maximum height that his jump would allow him to reach. When he did reach that peak, the armored martial artist plummeted back down towards Azazel feet-first with spiraling like a corkscrew. "Here it comes: the attack that'll cool you down," Lee shouted just before his feet crashed into Azazel at full force, pushing the monster all the way to the edge of the building. "Critical Finish: Breaker Kick!"

Just like the last unfortunate enemy to receive that attack, Azazel looked down to see that his feet were crystallizing, and the effect was quickly moving up his body. His waist was the next to go, and then his arms, and then his entire midsection. Even as his head became encased in an icy tomb, Azazel continued to roar in defiance and rage, and the roar still echoed in the ears of the two warriors as the destroyer became completely crystallized.

"I can still sense his ki rising," Jun exclaimed as she focused the last bit of her energy into her hands, including the energy of the suit. The suit seemed to liquefy off of her and flowed into her fingers, and when the suit was completely gone, Jun's hands were now sparkling with golden energy. "It's not over yet!"

Turning the energy in her fingers upon the massive living statue Azazel, Jun fired off a rapid volley of bolts that broke a piece of crystal off of the beast with every hit. The bolts erupted from each finger like bullets from a machine gun, and tore about the monster's body like candy glass. After what seemed like one hundred bolts, the former detective simultaneously unleashed a beam of energy from each finger that completely destroyed Azazel's arms and legs in a mess of glass-like debris.

"I'll finish this," Kazuya focused all of his ki, including the power that his suit gave him, into his index finger and lifted it high into the air while Azazel's head and torso fell to the ground. Like Jun before him, his suit liquefied into the crackling dark purple ball of energy that was slowly being inflated on the tip of his finger. "It is time to bring this to an end."

Once the sphere had reached a certain volume, it was forcefully hurled towards the limbless Azazel. The sphere detonated upon contact and a powerful explosion engulfed the crystalline destroyer: an explosion so powerful that his enemies were forced to cover themselves from the debris and flash that resulted from it. _"You are only delaying the inevitable," _the creature sent one final telepathic message to each of the combatants before his ki disappeared completely. _"As long as mankind exists, another destroyer will come and bring judgment upon this world..."_

After the dust settled, an uncomfortable hush fell over the trio that had just spared the world from Azazel's wrath. All that was left of the beast were countless crystal crumbs and pieces. "It's…finally over," Jun said with a smile, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. Feeling her legs give out, the former detective swayed from side to side, threatening to fall flat on her face. When she finally fell, however, Kazuya and Lee broke her fall with their arms and gently placed her on the ground. Lying prostrate on the ground, Jun's smile widened as she closed her eyes and fell into a well-deserved slumber. "The world…is safe…"

"I'm glad someone is happy," Lee said to his brother as he turned to look out into the distance. "It's too bad you and I still have unfinished business, Kazuya…"

"What unfinished business?" Kazuya asked with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't you vent all of your frustrations last night?"

"I just touched the tip of the iceberg," the armored warrior answered before taking a few steps back and assuming his fighting stance. "I still need to avenge Nagalya's brutal and unnecessary death. I'm sure you know a thing or two about the way vengeance works."

_"There's no need to do that, Scrumptious…"_

Upon hearing the familiar sultry voice in his head, Lee let out a gasp of shock and turned around to see where the voice had come from. "Impressive," he heard Kazuya say as he too scanned the area. "I guess she's tougher than she makes herself out to be…"

After a good two minutes of tension and silence, Lee and Kazuya turned around to see figure appear from the side of the Mishima tower and land gracefully on the roof. "I hope I didn't make you worry too much, lovers," the armored figure said as she stood back up and assumed her fighting stance, "because your dearest Nagalya…is alive and kicking!"


	25. Angel

_I must be hallucinating, _Lee told himself as he continued to stare at the armor-clad female figure that had just ran up the side of the Mishima tower and climbed onto the roof where he and his two companions Jun and Kazuya just defeated the destroyer Azazel. _I watched her get impaled by Kazuya just last night! How is it that she's still here?_

"I suppose I should thank you for missing my vital organs," Nagalya turned to Kazuya and nodded her head to him in gratitude. "I don't mean to offend you or anything, but dying at your hands isn't the end that I had in mind."

"I thought that you would bleed to death anyway, so I didn't bother checking your body," Kazuya replied as he folded his arms. "However, you have come too late: we have already defeated your precious Azazel. If you surrender now, then I might decide to make your death painless."

"That's enough, Kazuya," Lee interjected before he started walking over to Nagalya. "Nagalya, words cannot describe how happy I am to see that you are still breathing." Outstretching his hand, the still-armored warrior continued his words of joy. "This is our chance to put this mess behind us. Come on: I'll show you the best time of your life."

"That sounds tempting, Scrumptious," Nagalya said quietly as she reached out to take his hand. "I would love to have some fun with you…"

_It's actually going to happen, _Lee thought happily while he watched the masked succubus walk closer to him so that she could join hands with him. _All of my hard work is finally going to be rewarded. It's about time that luck started to fall in my favor!_

Just when it seemed Nagalya and Lee would join hands and put the brutal battles they had fought against one another behind them, the succubus suddenly let out a piercing scream and clutched her helmet-protected head in pain. "Nagalya, what's going on?" Lee reached out the object of his desire just as she turned away. "Are you in pain?"

"That's…sort of why I came here," Nagalya struggled to say as she suddenly lowered his body and assumed a hauntingly familiar fighting stance. "See, while you might have gotten rid of one voice in my head, there's still another voice I have to deal with! This voice tells me to maim and kill everything that breathes, and to not stop until everyone is dead!"

_She must be talking about her suit, _Lee reasoned as he pondered whether or not to walk over to the battle-ready Nagalya anyway and try to comfort her. _Maybe if I can remove it from her, this nightmare will be over and I can get my happily ever after!_

"You're probably thinking that if we got rid of this suit, the problem would be solved," Nagalya said, causing Lee to turn his head in surprise. "It's not going to work like that, Scrumptious. The suit is my life force: if you destroy it, I go down with it…but at the same time, I don't want to follow its orders."

"What do I have to do?" Lee asked, ready to follow Nagalya's slightest whim.

"I want you to kill me for real," Nagalya answered bluntly. "While I was lying there waiting for my wound to close up, I was thinking about what a shame it would be if this world was destroyed. I've grown very fond of this land of the living, and I do not want to see it turned into a cauldron of blood thanks to this suit."

"You want me to kill you?" Lee repeated, not entirely sure what he just heard. "How do you expect me to do that!? I don't see you as my enemy anymore, Nagalya: you are the woman that I love…the woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with! Do you think that I am just going to let you die!?"

"I know you will, because you love me," Nagalya nodded her head slightly while her body started to shudder as she felt the evil influence of her Soul Ripper persona begin to take over. "You know full well that I can never live with the guilt of what I did to those kids, not to mention all of the other nasty things I did in the name of Azazel. Would it be very nice of you to let me live while there's still the possibility that I'll turn right back into the Soul Ripper…much like I'm about to do now?"

"That guilt is proof that things aren't hopeless, Nagalya," Lee countered Nagalya's grim outlook with a brighter one. "There has to be a way to fix this: I bet someone like Yoshimitsu would know how to do it! He's the one who told us about this Soul Edge and Soul Calibur mess anyway!" Seeing that Nagalya was now shivering uncontrollably, the silver-haired martial artist called out to her. "Nagalya…say something!"

"…I'm the Soul Ripper, the angel of death," she hissed as her body stopped shaking and began to walk towards the battle-damaged Lee. "I am the brutal enforcer of all divine laws, with a mystic voice in my head." Slowly but surely, the slow walk evolved into a full run, and Lee had no choice but to assume his fighting stance and defend himself as the possessed succubus dashed at him with murderous intent. "I'm the Soul Ripper, the bringer of death. So you better never ever meet me, because then you'll take your final breath!"

_Oh no, _Lee thought in horror as he moved his head to the side so as to avoid the slasher's forward hand thrust. _She's turned back into that killer! What am I supposed to do now? _Grabbing onto the outstretched hand and using it hold his lover still, Lee reared back his fist and prepared to strike her. _I guess the most I can do is fight, until she's back to normal!_

Before he could throw a punch, the Soul Ripper used her exceptional athleticism to jump into the air and strike Lee just under his chin with a backflip kick, forcing him to release her and allow her to land gracefully a couple of yards away. _Of course, this is assuming that she doesn't kill me first, _the silver-haired warrior thought grimly as the Soul Ripper charged at him once again. _I'm not trying to kill her, but the same can't be said for what she intends to do to me!_

Ducking under the mad succubus' horizontal slash, Lee rose back up to strike his lover in the head with a rising somersault kick, returning the favor done to him moments earlier. With the attack launching the Soul Ripper several feet into the air, Lee capitalized on the opportunity given to him and knocked her further away with a second, high-arcing somersault.

The Soul Ripper landed on her feet and again charged at the martial artist in front of her. With a wild shout, the mad succubus raised her fist and applied it to Lee's chest, forcing the silver-haired warrior to stumble backwards. The Soul Ripper immediately followed with a second punch to the chest, stepping forward with the blow so that she could keep up with the reeling Lee, and finished the assault with a snapping side kick that knocked him off of his feet.

Lee landed on his hands and knees and rose back up just in time to keep himself from being vertically bisected by a cut from his possessed lover's elbow blades. With his hand moving faster than the Soul Ripper's eyes could keep up, Lee struck the woman in the chest with a quick jab. The jab was immediately followed by a second jab, and a spinning backfist sent the Soul Ripper stumbling backwards.

The Soul Ripper quickly recovered, however, and resumed her fighting stance with such swiftness that Lee stopped advancing so to avoid falling into a trap. His hesitating, however, was just the reaction the Soul Ripper was hoping for as she leapt forward and knocked Lee down with a jumping side kick.

Before Lee could get back up, the Soul Ripper reached down and grabbed him by the throat, hoping to strangle the life out of him. _She's so powerful, _Lee thought as his leg shot up to kick the mad succubus off of him, forcing her to loosen her hold enough for him to break free and catch his breath. _However, I can't go all-out: not when there's a chance to save her!_

The two fighters resumed their stances at the exact same instant, and waited for the other to make their next move for a couple of moments. After the couple of moments were over, Lee let out a shout and knocked the Soul Ripper over like a bowling pin using his jumping Silver Sting technique. After he did that, he mounted the fallen succubus and raised his fist.

However, he could not bring himself to punch the woman. Instead, he grabbed onto her shoulders and pressed his helmet against hers. "Open your eyes, Nagalya," Lee said to her, hoping that his words would help break the spell that the suit had on her. "You're being controlled like a puppet! Don't let the suit tell you what to do!"

Mercy, however, had no place in this fight, as Lee quickly learned when the Soul Ripper once again latched onto his throat. Silenced by the stranglehold, the armored martial artist gasped for air as the mad succubus stood back up with his neck still in her grasp. After a few more seconds of breathless gasping, Lee was lifted into the air and then slammed back into the ground.

Not relinquishing her hold on Lee, the Soul Ripper ran forward as fast as she could while dragging Lee along with her. The friction caused by metal grinding against pavement was made apparent by the sparks that shot from Lee's suit as he was pulled across the roof like a rag scrubbing a floor. Once she felt that she had built enough momentum, the Soul Ripper let go of Lee and watched as he crashed into an antenna.

_This would probably be a lot easier if I wasn't so tired from fighting Azazel, _Lee reasoned as he slowly stood back up and lifted his head to see the Soul Ripper charge at him with violent intent. _Then again, it would also be a lot easier if my goal were to actually defeat her!_

Like a matador that was using his entire body as a lure, Lee jumped straight up, performing mid-air splits as he did so. By doing this impressive athletic maneuver, the silver-haired martial artist hurdled over the charging Soul Ripper. With nowhere to go but forward given the speed she had charged Lee at, the Soul Ripper crashed head first in into the same antenna that her prey had been tossed into.

Seeing his opportunity, Lee pulled the Soul Ripper away from the antenna by her head and placed her in a side headlock. Once he was sure that her head was secure, Lee leapt into the air and landed in a sitting position while driving the mad succubus' face into the ground with a Bulldog grapple. Standing back up before the Soul Ripper could recover, Lee lifted his leg in preparation for a punishing stomp to her back.

Unfortunately for him, Lee's adversary rolled away before the boot could be driven in her body. "I'm the Soul Ripper," she reminded the silver-haired martial artist as she sent him sliding across the pavement like a hockey punk with a standing pirouette kick, "the angel of death!"

Chasing after her prey using her inhuman speed, the Soul Ripper actually managed to get behind Lee just as he finished sliding. This quickness, combined with her greater desire to inflict pain as opposed to her adversary, allowed the Soul Ripper to again grab Lee by the throat and lift him high into the air only to slam him back into the pavement.

However, Lee was quicker to recover now that his adrenaline was back on the rise. Flipping back onto his feet and kicking the mad succubus in the process, the silver-haired warrior's right leg clipped the Soul Ripper in the shin with a low kick. This kick was immediately followed by another one of its kind, and another and another. These low-striking attacks were quickly put to a stop, however, by Lee's horizontal high-striking kick that struck the Soul Ripper in her visor and knocked her off of her feet.

_All I have to do is keep on attacking the visor like last time, _Lee strategized as he chased after the Soul Ripper with his fist raised. _If I can shatter that, then Nagalya should be able to regain enough control of herself to suppress the voice of that suit! I should have been doing this from the get-go!_

With that battle plan in mind, Lee spun around and struck the Soul Ripper with a 360-degree hook punch. The punch was delivered with such force and precision that a small fissure appeared in the area of the visor she had been hit. Stunned from the powerful attack, the mad succubus was left open to another series of punches: two crosses followed by another spinning hook punch.

Not willing to give the Soul Ripper any respite, Lee continued targeting the visor by grabbing onto the back of her neck and driving his knee into it with great force. The knee was so powerful that it knocked the mad succubus off of her feet and caused her to land on her back while leaving a small crack in the pavement.

Lee mounted the object of his affections once again, but this time he did not hesitate to strike her while she was lying prostrate. Lifting his fists and letting out a loud shout, the silver-haired martial artist pounded away at her head using wild and desperate punches. "Come on, Nagalya, you can beat this," he shouted as his hands rained down on her protected face. "Give me a sign that you're still there!"

Instead of receiving a sign, however, he received a headbutt to his head that rattled him enough for the Soul Ripper to launch him off of her with both of her legs and stand back up with her fist raised once again. Returning the favor done to her moments before, the Soul Ripper grabbed onto the back of Lee's head and rammed _her _knee into it with such force that it left a crack in his helmet.

_It's getting worse and worse, _Lee mumbled as he focused his ki into his legs while jumping back onto his feet. _It's time to do this before I lose her forever! _

Without saying a word, the Soul Ripper once again went for broke and charged at Lee with her arms raised. Lee's timing would have to be precise, or he would be at a serious and possibly fatal disadvantage. However, Lee's age and experience were more than enough to make sure that his attack would fly true, and he effortlessly ducked under the mad succubus's high slash. Rising back up while letting out a piercing shout, Lee shattered the Soul Ripper's visor, and her entire helmet, like an eggshell using his Silver Cyclone technique.

"I did it," Lee exclaimed as he looked down to see Nagalya's beautiful face free of the helmet that masked it. Leaning down and outstretching his hand once again, Lee smiled as he heard the woman groan in pain: something that she had not done when she was the Soul Ripper. "Come on, Nagalya: we'll call it a draw and plan our rematch for a later date. Right now I'm tired."

When Nagalya slowly turned her head to face the armored playboy, however, Lee let out a gasp of shock. Even though the helmet was gone, the rest of her suit was still remaining. Furthermore, it went beyond merely covering her body: from the neck down, it looked like it had been grafted to her body. _What the hell is this? _Lee wondered as he Nagalya grabbed onto his arm and pulled it towards her so that she could strike him in the head with a leg lariat that knocked him flat on his back. _I destroyed the helmet; this should be over by now!_

As Nagalya reached down and grabbed Lee by the throat once again, however, he soon learned that this was not the case. Upon seeing her glowing red eyes that were devoid of any sort of compassion or mercy, the silver-haired martial artist realized how much trouble he was in as Nagalya tossed him into the air and sent him spiraling away with a jumping roundhouse kick just before he hit the ground.

Quickly getting back onto his feet as soon as he hit the ground, Lee took a moment to regain his bearings as the mid-air spinning threw off his balance. However, the dizziness did not go away quick enough, and the moment it took for him to figure out where he was the same moment that Nagalya put him in a headlock and brought him to the ground with a Bulldog of her own.

Lee grunted as he pushed himself off the ground and returned to his feet, and turned around to see Nagalya rush towards him with her elbow blades raised. With no time to evade, he said a quick prayer, hoped that his arm guards would hold up against the blades, and threw his arms up in a block. _If I'm wrong, then getting dressed the morning is going to be a lot harder!_

To his good fortune, the armor on his forearms were able to block Nagalya's blades. However, the two armors colliding together created feedback strong enough to send the two of them sliding away from each other like magnets. While the mad succubus remained on her feet, however, Lee fell right on his buttocks the moment he stopped moving.

The time it took for Lee to stand back up and rub where he had landed was more than enough time for Nagalya to run up to him and knock him down like a domino using a running side kick. With her opponent down, she lifted her foot and the ground the bottom of her high-heeled boot into Lee's back. Smiling upon hearing his cries of pain, she removed the foot only to kick him away like a football.

_Getting rid of the helmet was my plan to end this without hurting her, _Lee thought as he gripped his midsection and slowly stood back up. _I have no idea what to do now: it's infected her entire body! _

Even though Lee was losing his will to fight, Nagalya was nowhere close to losing hers: warping in front of Lee using her inhuman speed that made it seem like she teleported, the mad succubus launched the man into the air with a somersault kick, and then propelled him further upwards with another one.

Not even willing to let him fall to the ground, Nagalya ducked down and then sprang upwards to hit Lee with yet another somersault kick. This kick, which was embedded with her crackling dark purple ki, sent Lee crashing headfirst into the pile of crystalline debris that used to be Azazel, and that didn't make for a soft landing.

_I was beaten senseless less than ten minutes ago at the hands of a giant monster, _Lee moaned as he stumbled back onto his feet only for Nagalya to again warp in front of him and ram her knee into his sternum, forcing him to crumple down like an accordion. _There's no way I can stop her when she's like this, and Kazuya and Jun are probably too tired to help me._

In an act of merciless savagery, Nagalya lifted Lee back up by his throat and then completely shattered his helmet like an eggshell using a devastating half-knuckle blow. Too tired to even scream in agony, the silver-haired playboy fell onto his back and took deep and shallow breaths. _I want to save her so much, but my body just isn't compatible with my will right now. I've never felt so helpless…so alone…_

_"You are not alone…"_

_I know that voice, _Lee muttered as Nagalya picked him up and threw him over her shoulder to send him crashing into the ground: she wasn't about to let him fall over the edge of the building and let him die in that manner. _That's the voice of the Soul Calibur. What does it want?_

"_Remember that you are not alone this time, Lee Chaolan," _the soothing voice told Lee as he lay on his stomach struggling for air and life. _"When you fought the specter, your brother and your friend did not believe in your cause. That is not the case now, and that bond can make you stronger…"_

_That's not relevant to the situation at hand, _Lee retorted as he heard Nagalya's footsteps slowly become louder and louder as the mad succubus made her way towards him. _Even they cannot help me after they spent all their energy fighting Azazel. Right now it's only me…me against the woman I love._

"_Even she is with you now: she has entrusted you with a task that no man or woman should ever entrust to someone who they didn't care for deeply," _the voice explained. _"The woman has become the wielder of the evil blade, the devourer of souls. However, she no longer wishes for this to be a burden to her or anyone else."_

"She wants me to kill her, and that can't be the only solution," Lee said out loud with a strained hiss while he struggled to get back onto his feet. "I made a vow that I would show her the error of her ways by devoting myself to her entirely. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me, a playboy who loves women in general, to devote myself to a single lady?"

"_That selflessness is what drew me towards you," _the voice replied. _"However, denying her of her wish is very selfish. The sins she has committed are too great and too numerous for her conscience…a conscience that you helped polish with your bravery and kindness. She knows that if the killing is to stop, and the world is to be at peace once more…she must die today, by the hands of the one she treasures most…"_

"…but I'm hurt and tired," Lee complained before falling back down on his face upon failing to remain standing after getting back onto his feet. "I exhausted all of my energy fighting that freak, and this suit of ours been turned into scrap metal. What can I hope to do now?"

"_I will devote the last ounce of my energy into one final attack," _the voice assured Lee as he again tried to get off the ground before Nagalya came in close enough to decapitate him with her lethal elbow blades. _"It will be up to you to pierce her armor in one deadly strike, and I will completely crystallize the Soul Edge that acts as her puppeteer."_

"…I understand," Lee quietly submitted to the voice's will as he stood back up and groggily assumed his fighting stance, causing the approaching Nagalya to stop walking towards him and raise an eyebrow in curiosity. "However, I have onerequest to ask of you: I want you to make her death as painless as possible when I use my this attack."

"_That is very noble of you, Lee Chaolan," _the voice complimented Lee as he reared back and focused the last bit of his silver-tinted ki into his right hand in preparation for the most devastating and lethal attack that his unique brand of martial arts had to offer. _"I shall do my best and make sure that her last moments are not agonizing ones."_

Looking up to see Nagalya's body crackle with her own ki, Lee took a deep breath and let out one final battle cry before charging towards her. The moment he took a step forward, Nagalya attempted to bring an end to his life by unleashing multiple streaks of dark purple lightning. "Critical Finish," she voiced her attack with her tone dripping with insanity, "Ripper Thunder!"

However, not even this most lethal of attacks could stop Lee's advance, as he ran through the volley of lightning as what was left of his armor glowed fiercely like a star. The loud and fiery explosions that erupted behind him with each bolt that hit the ground did not faze him, nor the maniacal laughter that came from Nagalya's mouth. All that mattered was that his last attack struck true.

Once he was within striking distance, Lee unleashed his attack: a fingers-first thrust to Nagalya's solar plexus that pierced her armor, and her flesh within. That mad succubus did not scream, however, as her armor suddenly became cold and crystalline from the point of impact. Within moments, her armor fell off of her and shattered upon hitting the ground, reduced to a mess of glass.

All that was left now was Nagalya's naked form, and a thin smile that formed on her lips. "Nagalya," Lee whispered as he flooded the wound with the silver ki that he had gathered previous. "I am so sorry, beautiful. All I can do is hope that you forgive me, and wait for me when my time comes."

Nagalya did not respond with words, but placing her hand on Lee's cheek and gently pressing her lips against his. _"You gave me the time of my life after all, Mr. Lee Chaolan," _she told her through her telepathic powers as the two of them shared a deep and tender kiss. _"My only regret is that we can't go farther than this: I'm sure it would have been a wild and wonderful experience…"_

Feeling the crystallization effect take hold, Nagalya deepened the kiss even further and wrapped her arms around the silver warrior: an embrace that Lee returned in kind. Despite his nickname of the Silver Devil, Lee had become her angel of light, and he wanted nothing more than to make her last moments heavenly.

Once the effect head reached her sternum, Nagalya slowly broke this kiss and gently pushed him away. "Tell your friends…that it was a good war," she whispered with a smirk as her arms and neck became frozen. "Maybe the next time we meet…we'll be able to have a real duel…"

Returning the smirk with a thin smile of his own as the crystallization effect finally reached the top of her head, Lee felt a tear roll down his eye. He felt like bursting into tears and sobbing on the ground, but a part of him knew that there was no point of mourning: he had made Nagalya's final moments happy ones, and that was what mattered.

"_The deed is done," _he heard the Soul Calibur's voice say as his suit dissipated in a flash of light, leaving only the shards around his neck. _"I must be leaving you, brave warrior: perhaps we will meet again, in another form and name." _With those parting words, the shards ceased glowing and lost their shimmering properties to become a solid blue: Lee could no longer feel their power soothing him, signaling that the shards were now useless.

After a good five minutes of silence, he heard the sound of footsteps closing in behind him. Turning around, Lee wiped away another tear and outstretched his hand so that the approaching Kazuya could shake it. "I…am sorry that I was about to take own my frustrations on you, brother," he said as another tear fell down his cheek. "You did what you had to do in order to stop her, and I realize and respect that…"

"Do not get sentimental with me, Chaolan," Kazuya hissed as turned back around and headed to where Jun was still sleeping. "If you had a problem with me, then you were free to voice it: there is no need to hide it behind a veil of forgiveness and understanding…"

Feeling the warmth of sunlight, Lee turned around to see that the clouds that had hung over the city since last night were finally beginning to part to reveal the sun coming up on the horizon, ready to usher in a brand new day. Upon seeing one ray of sunlight shine upon the statue of Nagalya, Lee sniffed the air and let out a quiet laugh. "You know what the best part about all this is, Kazuya?"

"Enlighten me," Kazuya said unamused as he crouched down and scooped Jun up into his arms so that he could carry her towards the elevator.

Lifting his hand into the air and striking a dynamic pose, Lee let one final tear roll down his cheek as his smile widened while the sun shone behind him. "We saved the world, and we did it with class!"


	26. Epilogue

_1:00 PM_

"Come in."

Upon hearing the knocking at his door, Heihachi called out to whoever was standing behind it and waited for them to reveal themselves. The doorknob turned and the door opened an instant after that to reveal a familiar Asian female wearing a silver dress and a black trenchcoat with her black hair held back with a white hair band. "Ah, I have been expecting you, Jun," the elderly karateka said with a smile as he stood up from his desk and outstretched his hand. "Please, come in and make yourself comfortable."

Three days had passed since the destroyer Azazel and his priestess Nagalya at the hands of the Kazama-ryu practitioner and her two companions Kazuya Mishima and Lee Chaolan. With the exception of a neighboring building that Azazel decimated during his climatic arrival at Mishima tower, the damage that he dealt to the city was almost non-existent.

However, Nagalya left a mark on the city that it would not soon recover from: the brutal mass murder of the unfortunate students who stood in her path during her rampage at Mishima High School. Unbeknownst to the city, the killer had already been dispatched and destroyed, even though it gave Lee a heavy heart whenever those who knew the truth reminded him of it. Even though Jun did not personally know any of the victims, she had made plans to attend their funerals later in the week.

"I come here, as per your request," Jun bowed her head politely before straightening herself out and crossing her legs. "I understand there is something that you wish to speak to me about."

"I wish to personally thank you for dealing with miss Nagalya," Heihachi informed Jun of the reason he requested her presence before walking over to a panel on a wall and pressing a combination of buttons. Upon completing the combination, a secret compartment revealed itself and automatically opened to uncover a freezer. Reaching into the freezer and pulling out a bottle of champagne, the reigning King of Iron Fists went over to his desk and pulled out two wine glasses. "The public would have been in an uproar if she were still at large."

"Please put away the champagne," Jun lightly put her hand in front of her just before Heihachi popped the bottle open. "Many people died by her hands, but her death was not a victory. She was a martial artist who was dealing with a massive conflict within her soul…a conflict that she lost."

"…I suppose you are right," Heihachi frowned before nodding his head and putting the bottle back in his freezer and sitting back into his seat behind his desk. "From what I gathered, she was a warrior who the potential to be great: perhaps worthy enough to win the tournament, had she tried to control her demons."

"What did you do with the body?" Jun suddenly asked, causing the elder karateka to raise an eyebrow. Seeing that she had his attention, the former detective explained the reason for asking her question. "As I told you over the phone earlier, Chaolan wishes to hold a funeral for her, but before he can do so, he would like to put his mind at ease knowing where it went off to."

"Hmph…I suppose I can grant that lout that much information," Heihachi said with a scoff at the mention of his adopted son that he cast out so long ago. "I placed her body in the vault back at the Mishima mansion. No one will be able to disturb it locked within six feet of the finest steel that money can buy, and it's much easier than telling the masses that it's actually the frozen corpse of the killer of those children."

"Lee will be relieved to hear that," Jun replied with a thin smile. "He wanted the world to not see her as a heartless murderer: while I myself am not keen about hiding the truth, I do realize that it is to prevent a massive panic. The city would have been in a uproar if they knew that they were moments away from Armageddon."

"I am glad to hear that someone of your moral standing agrees with my actions," Heihachi nodded his head before narrowing his eyes at Jun. "Now, just to be sure…repeat to me what the story will be when someone asks you about what happened these past three weeks."

"The Wisps were actually actors in makeup," Jun recited the cover-up story that the Zaibatsu had concocted to avoid the masses from knowing what really transpired during the war with Nagalya. "Using hidden cameramen, the Wisps and whoever were involved fighting them were part of a Shinkenger television series that the Zaibatsu is funding. The people thought it was real, because it was made to look real so as to garner the desired reaction."

"What about the night club and what happened at Saitama Super Arena?"

"The victims of both incidents were slain by the same killer who took the lives of the children at Mishima High School," Jun took a deep breath as she tried to remember every detail of what the lie would consist of. "Upon killing the children, the murderer took his own life by slitting his wrists: his body was found two days ago at a nearby building."

"Recreating a killer that looked like a knight was simple enough: much simpler than what happened for real," Heihachi again nodded his head and smiled, pleased with Jun's devotion to their charade. "This will be the story that is published in all of tomorrow's leading newspapers: tell Kazuya and Lee that it is imperative that they do not report what really happened."

After saying that, Heihachi opened up a drawer in his desk and reached inside to pull out three envelopes. Each enveloped was closed shut with a red wax seal, and the center of the seal contained the two kanji that spelled out "Tekken." Handing the three letters to Jun Kazuma, Heihachi watched as Jun opened the one that had her name on it and asked, "What is this?" as she looked at the letter within.

"These are your invitations to the next King of Iron Fist tournament," Heihachi explained with a wide smile. "I have spoken to the president of G-Corporation, and he has agreed that both his organization and the Mishima Zaibatsu will end hostilities until it is time for the tournament. If someone from either side wins the tournament, then to the winner go the spoils."

"In other words, if G-Corporation loses, then all of their assets become absorbed by the Mishima Zaibatsu, and vice versa," Jun reasoned before fixing her sunglasses and looking up to Heihachi. "I am glad to see that this corporate war is being done as civil as possible…"

Upon hearing Jun's words, Heihachi burst into a hearty, manly laughter. "Civil? I wouldn't be surprised if by the time the tournament came around, G-Corporation enlisted every single one of their rust-bucket Jacks to try and take me out just like last time. Of course, it's not like they're going to stand a chance anyway! BWA-HAHAHAHAH!"

Quickly regaining control of himself, Heihachi cleared his throat and turned his head to see that Jun was picking up her things and leaving. "Where are you off to in such a rush?"

"Pardon the cliché, but there are groceries that I wish to buy at the market before it becomes too late in the day," Jun said with a smile before turning back around and politely bowing her head. "Thank you for the invitations, Heihachi: I will give these to Kazuya and Lee when I see them later today."

"Thank you for that," Heihachi bowed his head slightly in return before adding in one last comment just before Jun closed door. "Congratulations once again on your victory: I hope that you bring that same prowess with you to the tournament!"

--

_3:00 PM_

The smell of death still lingered in the air…

Even though the authorities might have tried to clean up the bodies and blood, Kazuya had taken enough lives to know a killing ground when he walked upon one. Mishima High School, once a place of hope and happiness, had become a school haunted by fear and superstition.

Kazuya did not mind this: in fact, seeing the school that was founded by his hated father Heihachi suffocating in horror made him smile. _It is a shame that I had to put an end to Nagalya's madness, _the Cold-Blooded Prince thought as he scanned the area to find who he was looking for. _Even though innocent deaths are an unfortunate side effect of warfare, watching the students who trust Heihachi cower in fear is certainly interesting…_

Looking towards the golden statue of the reigning King of Iron Fists and stood proudly in the center of the courtyard, Kazuya found his quarry: a handsome young man with black hair closely resembling his own, albeit with thicking bangs dangling in front of his face slightly. Whenever Kazuya visited this individual, he always had the urge to vomit: seeing this man made him sick to the stomach.

_He has humiliated me almost as many times as Heihachi, _Kazuya thought with a snarl as he swallowed his pride and walked towards where the man was standing with his arms folded. _I wonder why he has asked for me to come here: it better not be because he wants to settle things, because I am not in the mood to deal with him…_

"Hello…Jin," Kazuya growled just loud enough for the man to hear once he was within speaking distance. "I am here, just as you requested. Why is it that you have summoned me to this infernal place."

"There is nothing infernal about this place…father," Jin replied with a scowl, visibly sickened by the title that fate had given Kazuya in relation to him. "I've heard a lot of crazy stories about what happened to this magnificent school, but I know what really happened: a monster came and attacked it…"

"So what if it did?" Kazuya asked, folding his own arms as he returned his son's scowl with a cold glare. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Do me a favor and not assume that I am an idiot," Jin replied abruptly. "You, my mother, and Lee fought this monster the night of the murders, and then fought an even more powerful creature at Mishima tower the morning after. What I want to know is this: were either of these creatures your creations from the last time?"

"Tch…Of course not," Kazuya said with a scoff as he rolled his eyes. "Unlike you, I do not make the same mistakes twice. I fought those monsters because it was in my best interest to do so. Both your uncle and your mother fought them for the same reasons, so do not think that I forced them to do anything."

"I'm not," Jin said before taking a deep breath and outstretching his hand. "Now that I know that you weren't simply cleaning up your mess, I might as well tell you the other reason I asked for you to come here: I want to thank you for keeping this city safe…"

"…"

Taking note of Kazuya's silence and realizing that his father was not going to accept his handshake, Jin lowered his hand and cleared his throat. "It is not easy for me to say this, given how much bad blood there between us. After all, it was only two months ago that you and I tried to mutilate each other like animals. However, I think I might have misjudged you…"

"How do you figure that, Jin?" Kazuya asked with a raised eyebrow. "I admit to being what you call evil: what reason do you have to doubt that claim?"

"My mother told me about how you saved her life during what happened at the lab," Jin began as he put his hands in the pockets of his karate pants. "If you were really as bad as I thought you were, you would not have interfered to begin with. Instead, you came to her aid, and then stuck with her throughout the entire ordeal."

"It seems that you know much about this affair," the father said with a frown. "I hope that you have not shared what you know with anyone else…"

"Of course not," Jin quickly answered, his eyes widening. "Xiaoyu and Asuka keep asking me if I know anything about it, but I'm forced to lie to them…it's probably for the better, though. If I told them that the killer of their friends was a supernatural monstrosity, all it would do is needlessly them." After completing that sentence, the man nicknamed the Fatal Lightning lowered his head, as if he were ashamed of something. "I still don't know why mother didn't go to me in the first place: I could have called Hwoarang and the others and reassembled the team…"

"You really are an idiot," the Cold-Blooded Prince allowed himself a smirk as he unfolded his arms. "You should just let the grown-ups deal with their own business, while you children worry about yours. Your mother is an adult more than capable of taking care of herself, and she doesn't need your muscle to keep her out of harm's way."

"…heh," Jin allowed a smile to creep upon his lips as he thought about what his father had said. "For a moment, you actually sounded like a real father, and not just a biological one. You have changed a lot since mother came back…and I think it's been for the better." Lifting his head just in time to see Kazuya's smirk turn back into a scowl, Jin put his hands to his hips and politely bowed. "Thank you for your time, father: I have nothing left to say to you…"

"Good, because I'm tired of listening to your sniveling voice," Kazuya spat back as he turned around and started to walk away. "Unless you have any other questions, I do not want to see or hear from you until the next tournament…"

--

_5:58 PM_

Lee impatiently tapped his foot as he waited for Kazuya and Jun to arrive at their arranged meeting place. Due to how difficult it would be to burying Nagalya's crystallized body without shattering it like the Nightmare Wisp or Azazel, it was decided that they would hold their funeral at the small crossing near Tokyo Bay.

The funeral would be a simple one, and there was not much to say about her that had not been already expressed through their several battles with her. _Maybe she would have wanted a fancy funeral, or maybe she didn't want one at all, _Lee muttered at his looked at his other hand to see the violet fedora he had purchased earlier in the day specifically for this event. _It's too bad that we can't know for sure: I was hoping that we could send her off in style…_

"You seem to have a lot on your mind, Mr. Lee Chaolan…"

Turning his head to the right to see a familiar dark-haired woman wearing a sleeveless ruby dress, Lee gave the person a quick smile before turning back towards the water. "It's good to see you again, madam Zafina. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you on your victory against the destroyer Azazel," Zafina answered truthfully, returning the smile with one of her own as she walked up next to the silver-haired martial artist and followed his gaze into the body of water in the distance. "You should feel proud: there are few mortals in this world that would have even caused the beast to use half of his power, much less all of it."

"He was just a big blowhard," Lee remarked without before looking down and seeing the water below him flow towards the bay. "Of course, I would probably be gloating about it more if not for losing Nagalya. That's kind of why I'm here right now…"

"Ah…the priestess," Zafina nodded her head as she remembered the name. "It sounds as if you fell in love with her, despite the circumstances that set the two of apart. What a perfect tragedy: two lovers that can never be together due to their position as natural enemies…"

Before Lee could say anything, he could feel a pair of arms slowly wrap around him and put him in a gentle embrace. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, the martial artist brushed back his silver hair and asked Zafina a simple question: "What are you doing?"

"I could always fill the gap," Zafina replied with a mischievous smirk before letting go of Lee and slowly descending onto the ground so that was lying back on the ground with her elbows and legs propping her up. "Come on, it's the least I can do for a handsome hero like you…"

"You know, I would have taken you up on that offer three weeks ago," Lee said with a smirk of his own before turning away and looking out into the distance once again. "Sorry, but I think I'm going to hold off on women for a while…"

"I can respect that," Zafina's smirk widened into a grin as she quickly got back onto her feet and dusted herself off. "I just wanted to come and say thank you: I suppose my words were sufficient thanks. However, I must be going back to my home country." Waving goodbye as she turned to walk away, the enigmatic Zafina said her farewell. "Perhaps we will meet at the next tournament…"

Shortly after Zafina left, Lee heard another female voice call his name. Turning to his left to see Jun and Kazuya come towards him, a new smile formed on Lee's face. _Sorry, Zafina, but I still have unfinished business. Maybe I'll be ready to go back to being the same old playboy one day, but for now…I'm going to simply be celebrating life._

After exchanging pleasantries with his two comrades, Lee looked at his fedora one last time as Jun placed the cooler she had brought with her on the ground and opened it to reveal a bottle of champagne and three wine glasses. "Ironically, your father offered me champagne earlier today," Jun said as she took the bottle out of the cooler and placed the glasses on the railing of the bridge. "I knew how important this was, so I declined until we finished this."

Popping open the bottle, Jun gently poured the champagne into the three glasses and placed the bottle on the ground. Once the three of them had taken their individual glasses, Lee lifted his cup and prepared to begin the funeral. "To Nagalya, the woman that changed my outlook on life…"

With a thin smile, Jun raised her glass and toasted to the object of the "funeral." "To Nagalya, the woman who found her conscience just when the world needed it the most…"

A hush fell over the trio, and Jun and Lee turned their heads to Kazuya and waited for him to participate. With a smirk of his own, the Cold-Blooded Prince lifted his glass and gave his own requiem. "To Nagalya, an opponent worthy of my time and consideration…"

"May her soul find happiness in the afterlife."

With those final words, Lee tossed the fedora into the bay and said a silent farewell as the trio gently clinked their cups together and drank deep in the champagne that signified the end of the Wisp affair. _And with that, the case is closed…courtesy of Jun Kazama and the great Mishima brothers!_

--

**Author's note:** When I first began writing my Tekken trilogy, I had no idea that it was going to be a trilogy. I was planning to simply write the King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 and just leave there, closing up as many loose ends as I could while still giving it the feel that there will always been a new tournament as long as strong fighters existed. My intention was to create a story that was at least as enjoyable and fun as the Kazama-Mishima Connections (created by Gwendy, who inspired me to write Tekken fiction in the first place) that took the fanfiction community by storm.

However, things obviously did not turn out that way: in fact, I'm sure there were several people who were not down with Tekkenshu Sentai Shinkenger. Despite this, I felt the need to write another story, and so the Shinkenger were born. I became so pleased with Shinkenger that I dubbed it my best work…and perhaps I became a little arrogant due to being so proud of it.

I see now that I still had a long way to go, and I realized this when I worked on my original fiction Sheol (which, if anyone is interested, can be found either on fictionpress under the same penname or at deviantart under the handle psycho-blue). While it was far from bad, I saw that my story-telling skills still needed work, and my self-esteem dropped ever so slightly.

After talking with some friends about it, I decided to create a third Tekken story: the one that you see before you. I had tied up most of the loose ends that I wanted to tie up back in Shinkenger, but I felt that there was still something that I could work with…and then I realized something: I had inadvertently made Kazuya the star of my trilogy.

Anyone who knows me is well aware of how much of a Heihachi fanboy I am. After all, he's not just old…he's f—king old, and he's still kicking everyone's butt! I actually used to make fun of all the hype Kazuya got in Tekken 4 only for him to fall flat on his face in the end…and yet, he became the star: in KOIFT6, he became the lead anti-hero; in Shinkenger, he became the chief-villain, and in this story, he became a full-time hero.

Another theme that has been prominent throughout all of my stories is Kazuya and Jun's relationship. While I think that Gwendy's representation of their love might have been too extreme, for a lack of a better term, I do believe that rape was not a factor in the conception of Jin. Little by little, Kazuya has opened up to Jun, and it came to a head here in Soul Breakers.

With that in mind, I now declare my Tekken trilogy complete. I am not sure whether or not I will write Tekken fiction again now that I have ended it on a positive note, but I will never say never. I guess the most I can do is wait and see what happens, and I hope to see you whenever I decide to write here at fanfiction(dot)net!


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